Mariners drop fourth straight as Bryce Miller struggles again

Tim Booth, The Seattle Times on Jun 7, 2025

Published in Baseball

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ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Seattle Mariners finally scored more than three runs for the first time since the calendar tipped over to June.

Four still wasn’t enough on a night where Bryce Miller continued to show there might be more limitations than upside to what he can currently provide the M’s rotation.

Seattle lost its fourth straight game, falling 5-4 to the Los Angeles Angels before 34,915 at Angel Stadium on Friday night. The M’s (32-30) have lost seven of nine and nine of 12, and sit just two games above the .500 mark for the first time since they were 14-12 on April 25 after losing at home to Miami.

In finally cracking that elusive three-run ceiling that stymied the M’s through the first four games of June, a bit of the chaos showed up that Cal Raleigh wanted to see from the ballclub after getting swept by Baltimore at home.

Ben Williamson singled and doubled and scored twice. Julio Rodríguez tripled off the wall in center field to score a run. The M’s stole three bases, including Raleigh grabbing a bag.

The M’s even manufactured runs after loading the bases with no outs in the fourth inning. Rowdy Tellez just missed a grand slam but settled for a sacrifice fly and Leody Taveras plated another on an infield ground out.

There was also another great defensive play by Rodríguez, robbing former Mariner Chris Taylor of a two-run homer with a leaping grab above the wall in left-center field for the final out of the sixth inning and keep the M’s deficit at one.

But that’s where the highlights ended.

Making his second start since coming off the injured list, Miller (2-5) worked five innings. He gave up five runs. He gave up the lead on three different occasions. He struck out only two. And after seeing a jump in the velocity of his fastball early in the game, there was a notable regression as the game progressed.

The belief for a while was when Logan Gilbert was ready to rejoin the rotation that it would be Emerson Hancock that would be the odd-man out with the M’s adverse about going to a six-man rotation.

But maybe it should be Miller that gets pushed out when comparing his results with that of Hancock.

It’s clear Miller’s not the same pitcher as he was last season. Whether it’s the bone spur in his elbow causing more issue than what he and the team is letting on or another problem, Miller hasn’t been able to provide the M’s the starts they need.

Three times on Friday, the M’s offense did enough to give Miller the lead when he went back to the mound. It wasn’t much of an advantage — just one run each time — but compared to where the M’s have been offensively of late, this felt like progress.

In each instance, Miller immediately gave the lead away. In the third inning, it was a two-out single by Taylor, a stolen base and a single from Zach Neto that tied the game at 1-1.

In the fourth inning, Miller gave up a two-out single to Jorge Soler before leaving a fastball in the dead middle of the plate and watching Travis d’Arnaud launch a two-run homer to tie the game at 3-3.

And in the fifth, Miller hit Jo Adell on a 1-2 pitch, gave up an RBI double to Taylor on what was a pretty good pitch and allowed an RBI single to Nolan Schanuel to give the Angels a 5-4 lead.

While Miller was still on a pitch count, his efficiency early in the game allowed for the opportunity to potentially get into the sixth inning. But his effectiveness waned, and after 70 pitches Miller’s night was over. He has yet to complete six innings in any of his 10 starts.