TORONTO -- Bryce Miller looked like he might be on the cusp of a spiral from the get-go on Sunday night. But instead, he wound up giving the Mariners everything they could’ve hoped for against the Blue Jays in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series.
With Seattle’s pitching staff running on fumes while making his first career start on short rest, Miller twirled six brilliant innings of one-run, four-hit ball against the Blue Jays and left with Seattle clinging to a one-run lead in an eventual 3-1 win.
And his punctuating finish was a stark contrast to how his night started, as Miller was ambushed by George Springer on his very first pitch -- a 97.3 mph fastball that the slugger sent into the visiting bullpen for a leadoff homer, which in turn sent Rogers Centre into a frenzy.
“Definitely not ideal, especially on the road,” Miller said. “We also joke pretty often that a first-pitch home run doesn't count. So, we're going with that. It didn't count.”
Miller rebounded from the Springer homer -- and a 12-pitch walk to Nathan Lukes that immediately followed -- to survive a 27-pitch first inning. Then, he held Toronto to 1-for-19 the rest of the way, becoming the first pitcher to allow a leadoff homer but complete six or more innings without allowing another run in a postseason game since Boston's David Price in Game 5 of the 2018 World Series.
He did so largely by throwing the kitchen sink, after going fastball-heavy in the first. By the end of it, he’d thrown six different pitch types.
“The last few weeks, it's kind of been something I've been focusing on,” Miller said. “Just as the year has gone on, and on and off the IL, I kind of got away from throwing off-speed in-zone and attacking with those pitches. and it makes things a whole lot easier whenever I'm not just fastball/splitter.”
Given the postseason stakes, it might’ve been the best performance of Miller’s young career -- especially considering that less than two months ago he was working his way back from his second stint on the injured list relating to bone spurs in his pitching elbow.
“The year, personally, didn't go how I had planned and how I had hoped for,” Miller said. “But we're in the ALCS, and I got to go out there and set the tone, and I felt great. So arm, body, mentally, everything feels really good right now. So I couldn't ask for anything more.”
For the season, Miller had a career-worst 5.68 ERA, just one year removed from finishing 2024 on the highest note of any Mariners starter.
“I knew this was the biggest start of my career so far,” Miller said, “and I just wanted to get out there and mentally kind of get in a zone and visualize having success on the mound.”
Miller only got Sunday’s assignment because he was quite literally Seattle’s last starter standing after Friday night’s 15-inning marathon win in Game 5 of the AL Division Series. George Kirby made that start, then Logan Gilbert and Luis Castillo -- each of whom would’ve been the preferred option for ALCS Game 1 -- pitched in relief in extras.
That left Miller, who made his first postseason start in ALDS Game 4 on Thursday in Detroit, allowing one run over 4 1/3 innings in a 9-3 loss. But he only needed 55 pitches to do so, setting the stage to cover six innings Sunday.
It was better than even the best-case scenario, as Wilson said that Seattle’s initial plan was for Miller to go four innings and/or two times through the lineup.
“The way it kept coming out of his hand, the way he kept going out there and throwing up zeros was huge,” Wilson said. “It was evident that he wasn't wanting to come out of that one.”
It was also a big victory for a taxed Mariners bullpen that covered 10 frames on Friday to get a mini- and much-needed breather, especially given that Monday's Game 2 looms, with the Mariners turning to Gilbert just two days after he threw 34 high-stress pitches.
“I really give Bryce credit, going on short rest and going six innings like that,” Cal Raleigh said. “It was really huge, especially for our bullpen, who threw a lot of pitches the other day.”