Miller a bright spot in otherwise lackluster loss 

SEATTLE -- If there was a positive that the Mariners could point to in a forgettable, 5-1 loss to the Twins on Saturday night at T-Mobile Park, it was that Bryce Miller looked comfortable and in control in his home setting once again, on the heels of one of his toughest starts of the season.

Six days after he was tagged for six runs and only pitched one clean frame over a four-inning outing in Miami, Miller surrendered two runs on five hits with one walk and six strikeouts against a Minnesota lineup that has been one of MLB’s best of late.

It was a performance that kept the Mariners in the game, even though he left with a 2-1 deficit. But Seattle’s bats had nothing going against Pablo López, a Mariners prospect of yesteryear whom the club traded to the Marlins in 2017. So when Byron Buxton connected on a 409-foot, three-run homer with two outs off Trent Thornton, shortly after Miller departed, Seattle’s fate was all but sealed.

“It comes down to that one big at-bat or that one big hit, and they got it with two outs and we were unable to get it,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said.

Miller saw a slight velocity uptick across his arsenal and mixed it up as much as ever. He turned to his splitter (24 pitches) nearly as often as his four-seam fastball (25) and found more consistent movement and location by darting it below the zone en route to six whiffs and two strikeouts.

The heater had more life, too, than in recent outings, as he was able to consistently pound the top rail for whiffs, fouls or outs. Only one of his four-seamers turned into one hit, a double from lefty Max Kepler, who scored on an RBI single from righty Jose Miranda in the ensuing at-bat. Miller also added a new grip to his slider, which he said was tagged as a splitter a few times.

And on top of it all, Miller toyed with multiple deliveries and experimented with the pitch timer in an attempt for a competitive advantage, often delaying his delivery until the final seconds.

“It's just something I've been playing with recently,” Miller said. “I like doing it. I think it's fun. I think the hitters get kind of mad at me sometimes, but I like it.”

Miller’s night was finished after 87 pitches, just as the Twins’ lineup flipped the third time through. Servais turned to Thornton, who was coming off his first career save on Wednesday at Tampa Bay. Thornton surrendered a pair of singles to his first two batters, but nearly escaped the jam before Buxton battered a middle-middle fastball in a 2-2 count that Cal Raleigh had set up for more up in the zone.

Buxton also ripped a go-ahead double off Miller in the fourth, just past the outstretched glove of Luke Raley, who nearly pulled off what would’ve been the catch of the year for the Mariners.

“Not our best night at the plate, obviously,” Servais said. “We continue to struggle there.”

The Mariners had just six hits and went down in order 10 straight times against López to finish his outing. He racked up nine of the Twins’ 15 strikeouts and cleared the sixth inning despite throwing 32 pitches in the third.

It’s been a two-fold season for the 2023 All-Star López, who carried a 6.69 ERA over his past eight starts entering Saturday, including a 14-strikeout, scoreless eight innings in Oakland on Sunday. Before that, he had a 3.89 ERA in his first eight outings. But he’s owned the Mariners this season, when also accounting for a 10-strikeout showing on May 9 at Target Field, when he surrendered just one run in 6 1/3 innings.

Seattle can still go for its 10th straight series win at home in Sunday’s finale. But the club will need more offensive traction to do so, having begun this three-game set by going 0-for-16 with runners in scoring position. The Mariners’ lone run on Saturday was via a 383-foot solo homer from Mitch Haniger in the third, his seventh of the season but first since May 14.

Raleigh nearly had another in the eighth but came up just short when a 107.6 mph liner caromed off the left-field wall. He was then thrown out going into second base, and the Mariners opted not to challenge the close play.