WASHINGTON -- As Bryce Miller paced in the visiting dugout deep into Friday night’s game at Nationals Park, he channeled the trademark line that virtually every starting pitcher uses when lobbying to keep going.
“I’ve got one more,” the Mariners’ affable right-hander told manager Dan Wilson.
In an era where pitch counts are treated so preciously, Miller got his wish. And he held up his end of it, too, clearing the eighth inning for the first time in his career and lifting the Mariners to a 10-2 win.
“We had a big lead, and I also probably lost 20 pounds sweating so much,” said Miller, who needed just 91 pitches to get 24 outs. “But yeah, it was good.”
As the sample size grows, Miller continues to show why Seattle’s front office was dreaming on him so vividly back in Spring Training -- before a right oblique strain sidelined him in late February and forced him to miss the season’s first seven weeks.
He carved through the sport’s second-highest-scoring offense with ease, limiting the Nats to just two runs via solo homers -- from all-world slugger James Wood, who’s emerging as an NL MVP candidate, and Dylan Crews, but in garbage time, shortly after that confab with Wilson.
Both were in three-ball counts, yet he finished with zero walks among the 26 batters he faced. And that part, he said, was the most rewarding.
“I wasn't going to walk anybody,” Miller said. “Really, my two mistakes weren't even the home run pitches -- it was getting 3-1 to Wood, and then 3-0 to Crews. I think if it's a tighter game there, I probably don't try to go middle-middle 3-0. But when the offense puts up [10 runs], my goal is to go out and attack the zone and not walk anybody.”
Indeed, the Mariners’ bats broke through in a big way before this one got going -- with a five-spot in the second, a three-spot in the fifth, then solo homers from Dominic Canzone and Josh Naylor in the eighth and ninth, respectively.
Canzone also had a two-run triple that ignited the scoring, and rookie Colt Emerson went deep, too -- each in two-strike counts.
A dark cloud quite literally hung over the ballpark that delayed first pitch over two hours, then a metaphorical one lingered when Seattle’s most productive player, Randy Arozarena, was forced to exit with left hamstring soreness. But the club quickly deciphered that his status doesn’t appear serious, which made it more of a blip on the otherwise banner night of the exhaustive, three-city road trip.
“We've talked about -- on the road, especially -- getting runs early, and then allowing your pitching to take over,” Wilson said. “And Bryce just took over. One of the better performances we've seen all year.”
Aside from the homers, Miller surrendered just two other hits and struck out seven despite not having much swing-and-miss stuff (nine whiffs). The big lead allowed him to try new things that he might not otherwise -- specifically, pitching more to contact.
Miller generated nine ground-ball outs, including two double plays that quashed momentum. The first was to Curtis Mead that ended the first inning, the next -- which Cole Young made a heck of a play on -- was in the sixth that ensured Wood, in the on-deck circle, would bat with the bases empty instead of potentially with two runners on.
Miller now has five double plays this season in 35 innings, matching his 2025 total (90 1/3 innings) and one shy of his 2024 total (180 1/3 innings).
“So far, there's been a lot of weak contact, and it's like, if I fall behind -- both of the home runs were like, if they hit it, whatever, I'm not going to walk them -- but also knowing if I get a guy on first, I have ways to get out of those innings and get weak contact," Miller said. "And it's not a big deal like it was in the past.”
Earlier in his career, Miller relied on his sinker for ground balls. But in hitter-friendly West Sacramento last month, he changed things up and finished with seven groundouts. The primary groundball pitches on Friday were the four-seamer, splitter and slider.
“It's a different feeling,” Miller said, “just knowing if I need a ground ball I have ways to get one and not relying on a 110 mph ground ball off a sinker.”
These are the makings of a pitcher elevating his talent -- and stuff -- to a new level, and his season is only just getting going.