Sunken ship: Mariners start strong before embarrassing major collapse late in series opening loss to Rays
By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA – With the best team in baseball in town for a three-game set in their final homestand before the All-Star week that they host, the Seattle Mariners got things started hot with a four-spot in the second inning. It got the scoring underway in this ballgame, and starting pitcher Bryce Miller was delivering a gem to open things up, adding to the atmosphere of big-game feel as the Mariners were wearing their City Connect jerseys and had postgame fireworks planned. Like a firework, Seattle started out hot and came to a sort of peak before fizzling out and rapidly falling back to Earth before crumpling on the ground. Tampa Bay was able to tie things up with slow runs over the course of the fourth through sixth innings, before a big burst of eight-runs in the eighth inning infuriated the 37,063 fans packed into T-Mobile Park. The boo birds came out, and deservedly so.
Seattle Mariners legend Jamie Moyer threw out the first pitch (Photos by Bryan Saldana)
Miller makes a somewhat quick exit after strong start
Mariners starting pitcher Bryce Miller began this game red-hot, delivering balls of fire against the best lineup and team in all of baseball so far this year. Despite the odds seemingly stacked against him due to who he was facing, Miller was lights out for the time that he was on the mound before having to leave with a blister on his right-middle finger. Striking out six of the nine batters that he faced, Miller looked sharp and his fastball even saw an increase in spin rate to give it more bite. But, with the blister affecting his velocity and pitching in general, Tampa Bay was able to take advantage. Miller started the fourth inning off by speaking with a Mariners trainer at length, before walking Rays right fielder Luke Raley. Star left fielder Randy Arozarena jumped all over an elevated fastball that saw much lower velocity than normal from Miller for a two-run shot to get the Rays on the board. Again, the Mariners trainer and others spoke with Miller, who then left the game.
Talking postgame about his outing, Miller feels that if he was able to go through a normal game tonight, then the result would’ve been much different than the shelling that Seattle saw. It’s hard to argue against the considering the way that Miller was pitching and how his stuff looked. Although a small sample size, Miller struck out six of the nine batters that he faced, generating 19 whiffs through three and a third inning. He saw velocity increases in his sweeper and changeup, spin rate increases in those two pitches and his fastball, vertical break increases on his fastball and changeup, and horizontal break increases across all his pitches except for his slider. In case you aren’t aware, seeing increases in those respective areas is very good. So, again I will note that there is an asterisk considering it’s a small sample size. But all the factors considered: lineup, increase in velocity and spin rate, etc., Miller looked incredible and certainly would have changed the outcome of this ballgame. It’s hard to look forward at all or feel positive after tonight, but those developments are good signs for his young career.
Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Bryce Miller had to leave the game early due to a right middle finger blister (Photos by Bryan Saldana)
Second inning splash
Similar to far too many of their games over the course of this 2023 season, the Mariners only had one burst of offensive production in this ballgame and nothing more. After only a JP Crawford walk in the first inning, Seattle came back with some production immediately as right fielder Teoscar Hernandez doubled into the right-center field gap which drew one of the largest cheers of the entire homestand. A popout by third baseman Eugenio Suarez was a road bump before designated hitter Tom Murphy sizzled a two-run homer off the manual scoreboard in left field to give the Mariners the lead. It didn’t stop there for Seattle, as catcher Cal Raleigh followed the homer up with a walk before Jarred Kelenic and Jose Caballero both singled to load the bases. There wouldn’t be any “bases loaded” memes tonight, as JP Crawford singled into right field to score two, making the Mariners lead four runs to nothing. Tonight’s start was good, but was not indicative of how the rest of this ballgame went.
The second inning provided hope for the Mariners, as they scored four runs on Rays starter Shane McClanahan and chased him out of the game (Photos by Bryan Saldana)
Rays rally back
After that four-run burst in the second, Tampa Bay didn’t panic or rush to try and get themselves back into the game. Like the good ballclub that they are, they played their brand of baseball, which consistently moves runners along and adds a splash of power here and there to grab runs in bunches. Walks, base hits, and taking advantage of the poor defense that the Mariners played result in four runs over the three innings from the fourth through sixth. All hell broke loose in the eighth inning, though, when a seemingly pivotal moment of the game rolled around. With only one hit since that second inning when they scored all their runs, the Mariners were looking to get through the eighth inning cleanly so that they could set themselves up for somewhat of a bump and run. Go through the top of the eighth cleanly, score in the bottom of the inning, and then turn the game over to your closer to slam the door shut. Nah uh, said Tampa. Other plans were afoot.
Seattle brought in flame thrower Andres Munoz to try and get through the 9-1-2 hitters for the Rays, something that isn’t necessarily out of the ordinary. Munoz came in, and his streak of 12 scoreless appearances evaporated like cotton candy in water. Running through Munoz and Gabe Speier, the first ten Tampa Bay batters were able to reach base in some way shape or form, with the large majority finding a hit that drove in a run. The inning dragged on as the Rays piled things on like someone on an empty stomach at a buffet, and Tampa Bay was able to sprinkle on some more in the top of the ninth when the Mariners sent position player Mike Ford out to pitch. One of the most embarrassing losses in recent memory, and easily the most infuriating of this 2023 season.
After an eight-run 8th inning, the Rays cruised to victory (Photos by Bryan Saldana)
‘Pen report
In perhaps the worst-case scenario for not only this series, but the rest of the stretch that the Mariners have leading into the All-Star break, Seattle had to burn up five relievers from their bullpen after Bryce Miller’s early exit. That doesn’t include infielder Mike Ford, who the team threw out there as a position player pitching in the top of the ninth as to not deplete their bullpen further. On the first pitch that Ford threw, former Mariner Jose Siri hit a mammoth homer to continue to rub salt in the wound of this Mariners loss. Considering a few things, such as having to go into the ballgame much sooner than they ideally would have, and playing the best lineup in the Majors, I’d put some asterisk on these performances. But, considering just how bad everything went for the ballclub tonight, it’s hard to give anybody a break.
Matt Brash came in for Miller after his blister injury, giving up three hits and a walk but only surrendering a run. At the time, it seemed fine for Seattle to allow that given the lead that they had built early, even if it was now only a one-run lead after the Arozarena homer off Miller and now singular run off Brash. The next three relievers gave up runs, starting with Trevor Gott allowing a solo homer to dead center, following by two absolute duds from pitchers who have been very solid for the Mariners when healthy this season. Andres Munoz came in to pitch the seventh, and saw likely his worst outing of the 2023 season, giving up four runs on four hits. Gabe Speier, who has largely been efficient for Seattle as another quality bullpen find, decided that he wanted to replicate what Munoz did, allowing four hits for four runs, but did so while only recording one out. Tayler Saucedo came in to attempt to stop the bleeding, recording the final two outs of the eighth. We were then blessed with Mike Ford on the found, surrendering three runs on three hits.
The Mariners had to use five relievers over the course of the game due to Bryce Miller’s injury (Photos by Bryan Saldana)
Quick notes
In the first of a 3-game series, the Mariners fell to the Rays 15-4… they are now 14-13 in series openers and move to 38-42 on the season.
Seattle is now 29-16 when scoring at least 4 runs in a game.
Tonight was their 24th blown lead game of the season.
15 runs were Seattle’s most runs allowed at T-Mobile Park since May 18, 2019 vs. Minnesota (18 R).
Teoscar Hernández picked up the Mariners first hit of the game on a double in the 2nd inning, his 11th of the season… he went 1-for-2 with 1 double, 1 run and 2 walks on the night overall.
Tonight was just the 2nd time this season Hernández has recorded 2+ walks in a single game (also: 6/9 @ LAA).
His double was his 2nd hardest hit double this season at 110.5 MPH (highest: 112.6 MPH on 4/2 vs. CLE).
Hernández ended the month of June batting .303 (27x89) with 4 doubles, 1 triple, 6 home runs, 18 RBI and 11 walks.
J.P. Crawford went 1-for-3 with 2 walks and 2 RBI in tonight’s game… tonight was the 7th time Crawford has driven in 2+ runs in a game this season.
He led off Mariners hitters tonight with a walk… it was Crawford’s 6th leadoff walk this season and the 18th of his career… he is tied for 5th in the American League in walks this year with 45 (also: Randy Arozarena-TB and Shohei Ohtani-LAA).
Tom Murphy went 1-for-2 with 1 home run, 2 RBI and 1 walk on the night… tonight marked Murphy’s 3rd multi-RBI game of the season.
His home run in the 2nd inning was his 2nd hardest hit ball of the year so far (highest: 108.1 MPH on 5/9 vs. TEX).
Cal Raleigh went 1-for-2 with 1 run and 2 walks on the night… it was the 5th time he has recorded multiple walks in a game.
Following tonight’s game, Raleigh has now hit safely in 6 of his last 8 games (6/22-c).
Jarred Kelenic picked up 1 single and 1 stolen base on the night… he has now reached base safely in his last 6-games (6/23-c).
Kelenic’s stolen base in the 6th inning was his 11th of the season… he ties for the 2nd most on the team (also: Caballero) and trail’s only Julio Rodríguez’ 18.
José Caballero picked up 1 single in tonight’s game… he has hit safely in back-to-back games.
In his outing tonight, Bryce Miller threw 3.1 innings and allowed 1 hit, 2 runs (2 ER), 1 walk, 1 home run and struck out 6 over 61 pitches… Miller left the game in the 4th inning with a right middle finger blister.
Of the first 9 batters he faced on the night, he struck out 6.
Miller had 18 whiffs on his 4-seam fastball tonight, which tied for 2nd most whiffs by a rookie in the Statcast Era (2015-c).
Andrés Muñoz entered in the 7th inning and pitched in his 100th career game tonight…following tonight’s outing he snapped a streak of 12 scoreless appearances.
With the Rays 8 runs scored in the 8th inning, Seattle’s pitching tied a season high in runs allowed by an opponent in a single inning (3x, last: 3rd inning, 4/11 @ CHC).
A pitch timer violation was called on Rays starting pitcher Shane McClanahan in the 2nd inning… Cal Raleigh was awarded a walk following the violation on his 3-2 count at the plate.
After the loss, the Mariners had a Patriotic themed fireworks night (Photos by Bryan Saldana)
What’s next?
Following tonight’s Mariners loss, Seattle and Tampa Bay will battle again tomorrow for a different start time of 4:15PM PST for the second of their three-game series. After holding a “players only” meeting prior to tonight’s loss, and then getting shelled thanks to Tampa Bay’s big eighth inning, it’ll be intriguing to see how the Mariners are able to respond in game two. Going against the Rays was already going to be tough given that they are the literal best team in baseball this year, but the sort of collapse we saw tonight was somehow even more of a gut punch. Despite the on-field frustrations, there are a few fun promotions taking place at T-Mobile Park, whether you bought a ticket via a special link or not. You can check our promotional details article for this homestand that we released this past Sunday by clicking here.