Mariners complete series win over Athletics with 6-1 victory, behind Bryce Miller’s strong start
By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA – The Seattle Mariners winning formula of good pitching and burst offense continued in this game three victory over the Oakland Athletics, a 6-1 result as starter Bryce Miller was strong in his fifth career outing at the big-league level. Seattle continues to play “burst ball” offensively, as the Mariners used a five-run 4th inning to power them to victory and added on a Teoscar Hernandez solo homer in the 7th to cement that win. Seattle is officially streaking with that victory, winning their third in a row to begin this ten-game homestand, and will be looking to complete a sweep of the Athletics with tomorrow’s game four.
“Really good pitching again, Big Tex. I don’t know what the nickname is gonna be for Bryce Miller. It’s Miller time, whatever you want to call it. But again, outstanding job tonight. Didn’t think it was really quite his sharpest or the best stuff we’ve seen him have since he’s been in the big leagues. But that fastball, it works. It works at the top of the zone. Certainly Oakland had seen it before, they knew what to expect, and they still weren’t able to get on him. He gives up a couple hits tonight, and that was it. Really impressive again, just unbelievable start to his major league career. And we’re enjoying watching it play out here every fifth day. Offensively to know that we did some really good things early in the game, made him throw a ton of pitches, I think they threw him close to 100 pitches through the first four innings. But you know, it took some big hits with running scoring position, Haggerty got to redeem himself, the first time with the base loaded didn’t go so well. Second time, much better. Big double down on the corner, kind of get that inning going. And then nice to see Teoscar, get one tonight too. So again, three in a row. It’s hard to sweep anybody and a four game series, but got some momentum going to go out tomorrow. Shut em down early and get on the scoreboard again.”
Former Seattle Seahawks Cliff Avril, Doug Baldwin, Michael Bennett threw out the ceremonial first pitch(es) as the trio prepare for the second edition of the “Champions of Change” charity celebrity basketball game (Photos by Bryan Saldana)
Miller time, all the time
Mariners starting pitcher Bryce Miller is having a historic start to his career in the major leagues, after he was left off the teams Opening Day roster. It made sense at the time to do so, considering that the rotation had three established veterans (Luis Castillo, Robbie Ray, and Marco Gonzales) and two relatively “younger” starters (Logan Gibert and George Kirby) to fill out their starting five. Many in the Seattle fanbase were hoping that the ballclub was going to trade Marco Gonzales, but that was likely and doubtful from the jump and it seemed like the Mariners weren’t ready to bring Miller up anyways. It seemed like it was going to be wait and see for Miller or when an opportunity would arise, and that door opened shortly after Robbie Ray went down with his season-ending injury.
Bryce Miller delivered another quality performance on the mound for the Seattle Mariners tonight, continuing a historic start to his young career (Photos by Bryan Saldana)
Since making his debut against these same Athletics down in Oakland, Miller has excelled against all sorts of ballclubs and continues to look like the real deal for Seattle after stepping into this opportunity. The best and perhaps most fun part about Miller’s start to his career, is that his stuff looks sustainable. While his numbers have been historic and he’s had an incredible beginning to his career, Miller has still looked human, as he did in innings three and six when the Athletics were threatening. In both instances, Oakland had a runner on third and a chance to get on the board, but both times Miller evaded that danger and got away scot-free. If Miller does in fact keep this up and plays like this for much of his season, not only will Seattle have to make a decision next year in the rotation when Ray returns, but the Mariners could have a second straight rookie of the year.
“Gonna be some adjustments he’s gonna need to make along the way, the more teams get to see him and then you know, the book gets out on him a little bit more. If it ain’t broke, you don’t fix it, and the results are outstanding. The thing that has not changed at all, is just obviously, the competence he has when he takes the mound, he’s in total control. It’s about as slow as heartbeat you ever gonna see from a young starting pitcher, and it serves him well. He’s gonna have nights, where he’s gonna need to lean on the off speed pitches a little bit more, but really good so far. Again, really excited about that, and what that has done for our rotation and our team. When you lose a guy like Robbie Ray, and then you have a young guy come in like that and take the opportunity and run with it? It’s just fantastic. Great to see. And again, I’ve mentioned it earlier, but what a job but our people in player development, the pitching coaches and the people have been around him, leading him to us here and he’s been ready to go from day one.”
Seattle’s offensive attack throughout the course of the night (Photos by Bryan Saldana)
Sam and the tale of the loaded bases
Slotting into the lineup for first baseman Ty France due to the injury he suffered on a hit by pitch last night, Sam Haggerty was looking to make an impact tonight after struggling so far this season. Coming into this game batting .147, Haggerty was looking to make his presence felt at the plate, as we already know what sort of things, he’s capable of defensively partially due to his athleticism. Sam got a huge chance to cash in and make an immediate impact on this game with the bases loaded in the second inning, but popped out to first harmlessly. Haggerty got his second chance again in the sixth inning, and made no mistake about it to get Seattle on the board.
“As much as I wanted to come through the first time. You know, less than two outs with a runner on third base, we take a lot of pride and in getting that done. And, you know, I was unable to the first time and, fortunately , I was given another opportunity and I came through.”
“I’ve never played first base in my career worked with bone and Ty to try to get a grasp of what what happens over there. It’s been fun point vantage point to watch the game. I’ve never seen it from that angle. And you know, I have fun with it.”
“I thought he was great. You know, super athletic. One play when, you know deep in the hole, and he’s able to beat the runner to first base. I don’t think Ty is gonna be able to beat that guy, nothing against Ty. But, very athletic, playing a high throw from Caballero to slap the guy on the head as he’s running by. He’s a good athlete. He’s a good baseball player and he’s not perfect over at first. He doesn’t have a lot of experience. Everybody got the job done tonight. That’s what you have to do as a utility guy. Just play baseball. Don’t overthink it. You know, let your athleticism take over and that’s what that’s what he does.”
Seattle Mariners outfielder Teoscar Hernandez hit a solo homer to center field to extend the teams lead (Photos by Bryan Saldana)
The bases loaded for Haggerty, as Cal Raleigh singled, Jose Caballero drew a walk, and AJ Pollock singled to fill the bags up in a redemption scenario. It was eerily like the second inning for another reason, as there was one out again due to Teoscar Hernandez’s strikeout. Haggerty barreled up a fast ball in the middle quadrant of the plate and sent it to the left field corner, driving in Raleigh and Caballero to get the Mariners offense going. Haggerty’s double got the attack started for Seattle, and is hopefully a launch point for his bat to improve as the Mariners could use his versatility off the bench more just as they did last season.
“It’s difficult. Baseball is a game of rhythm, and flow, and hitting especially seeing the ball, controlling the strike zone. It’s definitely much easier if you play, but it doesn’t give me any excuse to not be able to have competitive at-bats. You do as much work as you can in the cage with a traject in, you know, staying locked in and when the opportunity comes, you try to capitalize.”
The sequence as Sam Haggerty tags out Ryan Noda of the Athletics (Photos by Bryan Saldana)
Seattle was able to keep the hits coming after Haggerty’s double, as JP Crawford and Julio Rodriguez both brought runs across thanks to singles while Eugenio Suarez loaded the bases up again with a walk. Cal Raleigh got a run across the “easy” way, as he drew a walk to drive in JP. It was an interesting inning, considering that the Mariners got those five runs across with only one extra base hit and several singles and walks, but it’s the kind of offense that Seattle should aim to put out game in and game out. This sort of attack is far more sustainable and realistic as opposed to relying on the long ball, and it’s especially better for those colder months in the Pacific Northwest where balls die out at the warning track.
The Seattle Mariners celebrate their 6-1 victory over the Oakland Athletics (Photos by Bryan Saldana)
Quick notes
The Mariners beat the A’s 6-1 tonight and secured a series win. Their record improves to 25-24 and they move above .500 for the 4th time this season (last: May 15).
The Mariners are now 6-0 against the A’s in 2023.
8 out of the 9 batters in the Mariners starting lineup reached base safely tonight.
Bryce Miller threw 6.0 innings and allowed 2 hits, 1 walk, 1 HBP and struck out 6 on 90 pitches (61 strikes).
Through 5 starts, Miller is 3-1 with a 1.15 ERA (4 ER, 31.1 IP) with 3 walks and 28 strikeouts.
His ERA is the best all-time among Mariners starters through first 5 career starts, ranking above James Paxton (1.16 ERA) and Félix Hernández (1.75).
Miller extended his streak of 6.0+ inning starts with 5-or-fewer baserunners to 5 games following tonight’s outing, the longest streak to begin a career in Major League history.
He also tied the Mariners record for longest streak of 6.0+ inning starts with 5-or-fewer baserunners allowed by a starting pitcher (also: Randy Johnson, 5/28/97-6/19/97).
He is the first pitcher in Major League history to pitch 6.0+ innings and allow 4-or-fewer hits and 1-or-fewer walks in each of his first 5 starts.
José Caballero went 1-for-2 with 1 run and 2 walks. It’s the 3rd time this season he has recorded a multi-walk game (also: 5/14/23 and 5/17/23).
Caballero has reached base safely in 7 out of his last 10 starts and during the month of May is batting .350 (14x40) with 9 runs, 2 doubles, 2 home runs, 9 RBI, 8 walks and 2 HBP.
He recorded his 7th stolen base of the season in the bottom of the 5th inning and trails only Julio Rodriguez (8) for the most stolen bases on the team.
Sam Haggerty went 1-for-3 with 1 double, 1 walk and 2 RBI on the night.
His double in the 4th inning drove in the Mariners first runs of the game. It was his 2nd double on the season so far and the hardest hit ball of the game at 108.2 MPH.
J.P. Crawford picked up 2 hits, 1 run and 1 RBI in tonight’s game.
Crawford has reached base safely in 19 of the last 20 games, during which he has reached base at a .362 clip. He leads the Mariners in OBP this season.
Cal Raleigh went 2-for-3 with 1 run, 1 RBI and 1 walk in tonight’s game. It is his 9th multi-hit game this season so far and he has reached base safely in 8 of the last 10 games.
Julio Rodríguez went 2-for-3 with 1 RBI to pick up his 3rd multi hit game of the month.
AJ Pollock picked up a pair of singles and scored 1 run tonight. It marks his 4th multi-hit game of the season (last: 5/15/23).
Eugenio Suárez drew a walk in the bottom of the 4th inning.
He has reached base safely in 12 of the last 13 games and ranks 2nd amongst the Mariners in walks with 25, trailing only J.P. Crawford’s 28.
Teoscar Hernández hit his 9th home run of the season in the bottom of the 7th inning. He trails only Jarred Kelenic’s 10 home runs for the most on the team this season.
The Mariners bullpen (Matt Brash, Gabe Speier and Tayler Saucedo) combined for 3.0 innings, 1 run, no walks and 3 strikeouts.
Kolten Wong and Taylor Trammell entered the game in the top of the 7th inning.
What’s next?
The Mariners and Athletics will close out this four-game series to begin Seattle’s homestand tomorrow, Thursday May 25th, with a first pitch time of 6:40PM PST just like the previous three games. Tomorrow’s game will be a “Bark-at-the-park" night at T-Mobile Park, as the Mariners look to complete a sweep of these Athletics and extend their winning streak to four games. Seattle will have Logan Gilbert on the mound to face off against Oakland’s JP Sears in the series finale.