Mariners swept in Miami as Bryce Miller struggles vs. red-hot Marlins

MIAMI – Unfortunately for the Mariners, they can’t get themselves right by playing the Los Angeles Angels or some other team that is the dregs of their respective division.

After getting dismantled by the surging Marlins for three straight games in front of mostly empty seats at LoanDepot Park, including Thursday’s 8-4 loss, the Mariners will close out the first “half” of the season before the All-Star break with a three-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays – the team with the best record in the American League at 54-37.

Better days ahead? Even the most optimistic fan might be ready for a break from the inconsistency and lack of execution.

Over three days at the climate-controlled confines of Miami’s home park, only one team looked and played like a postseason-worthy team. And it certainly wasn’t Seattle.

The Mariners played a disjointed, and at times disinterested, brand of baseball. Their pitchers gave up hard contact and extra base hits. Their hitters couldn’t do much against a constant stream of breaking pitches or come up with meaningful hits. They also looked plodding and sloppy against a youthful, athletic Marlins team that applied constant pressure in all facets.

“Not how we wanted to end the series here,” manager Dan Wilson said. “Tough one again today.”

They all seem to be tough on the road for Seattle.

The Mariners have now lost five of their last six road series and are 6-13 in those games.

Looking to avoid being swept, the Mariners sent Bryce Miller, their best starter of late, to the mound in hopes of salvaging a win before flying to Tampa that evening.

Instead, Miller struggled for the first time since returning from the injured list in mid-May.

Miller never quite looked comfortable on the mound, struggling to find rhythm and consistency. The results were reflective in his five innings of work. He allowed six runs (four earned) on nine hits with four walks and three strikeouts. He threw first-pitch strikes to just 15 of the 28 batters he faced. The velocity on all of his pitches was down 1-2 mph. He didn’t generate one swing-and-miss on his four-seam fastball.

“It’s weird because with the more rest you get between starts, it’s almost like your body feels better, but stuff isn’t as good. At least that’s how it feels and it’s been for me,” said Miller, whose previous start was on July 2. “Even on like five days’ rest compared to seven, going into the game, I might not feel as good, but sometimes the stuff is sharper. It’s kind of give or take. I felt good going into the game, but the stuff wasn’t very sharp.”

Seattle gave him a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Josh Naylor turned a would-be caught stealing into a run scored when Miami starter Janson Junk’s throw to third – for what was a sure out – went wayward. It allowed Naylor to race home.

But it was gone immediately.

The Marlins picked up a pair of runs off Miller in the second inning. Griffin Conine yanked a first-pitch fastball off the facing of the upper deck in right field for a solo homer. With two outs, Miller gave up an RBI double to Liam Hicks on a 1-2 fastball. The line drive was just out of reach of Naylor’s leaping attempt and landed on the foul line.

“I went fastball up, but not up enough,” Miller said. “An inch either way, it’s either foul or an out and we got neither.”

Miami broke the game open in the fourth, scoring four runs. With one out and runners on first and second, Hicks hit a ground ball to the right side. Naylor fielded the ball and fired to second base for what the Mariners thought was an out at second. Rookie shortstop Colt Emerson tried to complete the double play, but he bounced his throw to Miller at first base.

Miller couldn’t field the short-hop and the ball popped up in the air. Jakob Marsee, the runner on second, saw that Miller wasn’t getting to the ball immediately and never stopped running, sliding into home for a run.

The Marlins also challenged the out at second, and replay showed that Emerson had pulled his foot off second base as he tried to make the catch and throw.

So the Mariners gave up a run without getting an out. Xavier Edwards immediately followed with a triple to left field that made it 6-1.

“If I redid today, I would have probably threw more offspeed earlier in counts and in-zone,” Miller said. “I feel like when I did go to the offspeed early in counts, usually it wasn’t competitive, and then I’m in a 1-0 hole.”

It was more than enough run support for Junk. The Federal Way native, who pitched at Decatur High and later for Seattle U, was able to work through the early struggles, which included four walks and two throwing errors in the first two innings, to give Miami five innings and pick up the win. His only other run allowed was on a solo homer to Randy Arozarena in the fifth.

“We had some opportunities early in the ballgame and just weren’t able to capitalize on them,” Wilson said. “We had chances to get the starter out of the game quickly, but just not able to convert those into runs.”

The Marlins added two more runs off Michael Rucker in the seventh to push the lead to 8-2.

With the Marlins’ top leverage arms unavailable due to usage, the Mariners did pick up some runs in the later innings. Dom Canzone crushed a two-run homer in the eighth. But the late runs were meaningless in another frustrating loss.

“The opportunities we have, we need to take advantage of,” Wilson said “It’s been a little bit of a tougher time for us right now. When you start playing well, those things start coming around. I know it’s coming, and it’s going to start hopefully in Tampa.”