SEATTLE -- The game sped up quicker than anyone within the Mariners’ dugout could’ve imagined on Sunday, but especially the man on the mound.
Bryce Miller walked the bases loaded twice, finished with a career-high seven free passes, and saw the series finale with the Cubs get out of reach by the time he departed with one out in the fifth inning.
It then got ugly in the late innings, thanks to multiple defensive mishaps and more damage against Michael Rucker, Seattle’s low-leverage reliever who was pitching in his third straight game.
When the dust finally settled on a 19-2 loss, backup catcher Jhonny Pereda then third baseman Weston Wilson were on the mound -- making it Miller’s second straight start that ended with a Mariners position-player pitching, following Tuesday’s 22-0 loss in Milwaukee.
It was hardly the way that Miller wanted to celebrate his 28th birthday, as Seattle has now lost eight straight behind him dating to July 9.
“I don't feel like that team beat me at all; I gave it to them,” said Miller, who gave up six runs but only surrendered two hits to 22 batters faced, though both were homers. “You give up that many free passes, that's what happens.”
The Mariners could be approaching a predicament with Miller’s rotation spot, and manager Dan Wilson didn’t shoot down a question of whether the club would consider moving Miller to the bullpen, now that uber prospect Kade Anderson has arrived.
“We're looking at all different kinds of options as we approach the end of the season here, and looking at everything,” Wilson said. “And obviously, we want to keep our rotation intact, but we'll see how things shake down here in the next few days.”
Miller added that he hasn’t been approached about such a transition, though, saying: “No, that hasn't been a thing.”
Over his past eight starts, Miller has a 7.19 ERA while opposing hitters have tagged him for an .893 OPS -- both the highest among 43 pitchers with at least that many starts in that span. His 1.62 WHIP ranks fourth-worst and a 1.5 strikeout-to-walk ratio is fifth-worst, and he’s averaging just over five innings per outing.
On Sunday, Miller worked around a one-out walk in the first inning, then went 1-2-3 in the second before things spiraled in the third. He walked three in a row with two outs, then nearly got out of it but left a 1-2 splitter in Ian Happ’s wheelhouse, which the switch-hitter yanked for a grand slam off the right-field foul pole. That came after a leadoff homer to Michael Conforto.
Then in the fifth, Miller walked three in a row again -- but to begin the frame -- as he reached 97 pitches. Yet, Wilson only had lefty José A. Ferrer warming, and with a thin bullpen, the manager opted to stick with Miller against red-hot Alex Bregman.
Bregman hit into a force out after seven pitches, but it led to a run, and then Wilson finally went to Ferrer, who generated a grounder with the infield in that ignited the rare 6-2-5 double play.
Ferrer remained in the game for another inning to finish with 24 pitches, just ahead of the Phillies arriving on Monday, winners of nine straight and with a slew of left-handed sluggers in their lineup such as Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper.
The Mariners will likely need a fresh arm regardless, and Nick Davila being in the clubhouse on Sunday morning as a taxi-squad member suggested as much.
“We had an extra-inning game [on Friday], and a long game yesterday, and yeah, it does tax you a little bit,” Wilson said. “And yeah, it's just one of those situations where it was the situation that we had at hand.”
As for Miller, for a team in the thick of the American League West race despite its 62-69 record, these outings are becoming problematic. But the problem is, the Mariners don’t have the clearest answer for the situation right now.
Much of this hinges on Bryan Woo, who threw his first bullpen on Sunday morning since experiencing right shoulder discomfort one week prior in Houston. Woo was optimistic about how he felt, but the club has not yet finalized plans for when it will reinstall him.
That uncertainty was also part of why it called up Anderson, who impressed in his debut on Saturday. That said, the Mariners would prefer to keep him closer to the seven-day routine he operated on in the Minors.