Inside The Mariners

Seattle Mariners Earn Critical Win Against Houston Astros Off Bryce Miller Showcase

Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Bryce Miller threw seven scoreless innings to lead his team to a 6-1 win over the Houston Astros on Monday.

Teren Kowatsch

Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Bryce Miller throws during a game against the Houston Astros on Monday at Minute Maid Park.
Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Bryce Miller throws during a game against the Houston Astros on Monday at Minute Maid Park. / Troy Taormina-Imagn Images
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The Seattle Mariners this season have made an unfortunate habit of not providing enough run support despite pitching masterclasses from their starting rotation.

That wasn't the case against the Houston Astros.

In front of multiple friends and family (over 20 according to the ROOT Sports broadcast), Mariners starting pitcher Bryce Miller threw seven scoreless innings and was supported by an efficient offense en route to a 6-1 win against the Astros on Monday at Minute Maid Park in Houston.

The win improved Seattle's record to 81-76. The Mariners moved 4.0 games within Houston in the American League West and moved to within 1.5 games of the AL Wild Card (really 2.5 when accounting for tiebreakers). They gained half a game on the Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals and Minnesota Twins — who were all idle on Monday.

"Almost becoming a broken record but the guys bounced back again tonight," Seattle manager Dan Wilson said in a postgame interview Monday. "What a ball game. That's a really big team win right there for us. So many good things to talk about. Bryce Miller was phenomenal tonight. He had everything going. ... Offensively, tons of good things to talk about. Lots of hits again tonight — double-digits. And then getting guys over, getting bunts down, getting sac flies. Those things are huge and when you can add on late with those types of things, you give your bullpen so much more leeway. ... It's just a great win all around."

The Mariners offense ended up adding the necessary offense to secure a win in the latter stages of the game.

But for most of it, Seattle had to carry a 1-0 lead that was brought on by an RBI single hit by Cal Raleigh in the top of the third.

Miller prevented the Astros from building any consistent offense. In his first six innings pitched, he retired the side in order in five of them. The one inning he didn't, he helped strand two runners in the bottom of the second. One was in scoring position.

Julio Rodriguez gave the Mariners (and Miller) a little bit of breathing room in the top of the seventh with an RBI single. There was a chance to get two runs off Rodriguez's hit but Dylan Moore was tagged out at third right before Justin Turner, who would have been the second run, crossed home plate.

Houston threatened to tie in the home half of the seventh and got runners to second and third with one out.

Miller responded by striking out the next two batters swinging, leaving the game-tying runs in scoring position.

Miller finished the game having allowed two hits, walked two batters and struck out five batters in his seven innings pitched.

"Yeah it was all working pretty good," Miller said in a postgame interview Monday. "Pretty good game. My back kind of tightened up so that wasn't working but we battle through. ... I felt good all day. Then I started warming up and my back kind of tightened up. But I knew it was a big game and we needed a win today. So just had to go out and do what I could."

Justin Turner and Jorge Polanco tacked on two more runs with an RBI sacrifice fly and RBI double, respectively, to give Seattle a 4-0 lead through the top of the eighth.

Jason Heyward accounted for the Astros only run of the game with a solo homer to right center field in the bottom of the eighth.

The Mariners iced the game in the top of the ninth with RBI doubles from Rodriguez and Randy Arozarena for the eventual final of 6-1.

Seattle missed out on several opportunities this season to take advantage of teams above them in the standings faltering. Monday was not one of those missed chances.

The road isn't done for the Mariners. The best chance they have is to win out, which would mean they would have to close out the game on a six-game win streak — something they haven't done all season.

But Seattle is playing for its season every single game. So a win is a positive no matter how low the odds are (11.8% to make the playoffs according to FanGraphs).

The Mariners are still on the outside looking in with five games to change their fate. And Monday might be the catalyst for that final spark.

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Teren Kowatsch
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