Road woes continue as Mariners drop series in Miami

MIAMI -- Scott Servais has often said that “to win on the road, you’ve got to hit on the road.” But that mantra from the Mariners’ manager also hinges on his pitching staff -- particularly the rotation -- suppressing runs the way it has in Seattle.

And after Bryce Miller was battered for six runs early, including two homers, to sink Seattle to a 6-4 loss to the Marlins at loanDepot park on Sunday afternoon, the rotation’s road woes have reached the point of confounding, if not concerning.

Miller was ambushed for a four-spot in the first inning, after surrendering a leadoff double to Jazz Chisholm Jr. that later led to a two-out run, then allowing a three-run blast to Nick Gordon on a middle-middle fastball in a 2-1 count. He then gave up another knock to Chisholm into no-man’s land in right field that plated a run in the second, and the day’s dagger was a 429-foot solo blast to Jesús Sánchez in the third, on a splitter way up and over the plate.

Aside from pitch location, lefties were Miller’s primary culprit, as they accounted for five of his six hits and both homers. Miller wound up clearing one more inning, scoreless in the fourth, but the damage was done and it put the onus on the offense to dig out of a deficit that proved to be too deep.

Sunday marked just their sixth loss in 41 games when scoring at least four runs.

“With a lot of the lefties, I was trying to go up and away and I was just missing further arm side,” Miller said. “When I know they're going to be aggressive, I'm trying not to miss in the middle of the plate early. And then I think I was just trying to be too fine and then I ended up falling behind.

“It’s extremely frustrating.”

The Mariners made things interesting late, bringing the tying run to the plate in the seventh and eighth and loading the bases in the ninth, before Julio Rodríguez hit a game-ending lineout to Marlins second baseman Otto Lopez, who timed a leaping catch on the outfield grass.

Sunday also marked Miller’s fourth start in which he’d surrendered at least five runs, all coming on the road and all losses. For the season, the Mariners are now 3-5 in his road starts, where he’s carried a 6.28 ERA, compared to 6-2 in his home outings, where he has a 1.82 ERA.

Yet, beyond Miller -- and aside from George Kirby’s strong start on Friday and Logan Gilbert’s eight shutout innings on Saturday -- Seattle’s starters collectively have struggled to replicate their success at T-Mobile Park.

Mariners starting rotation, 2024 (MLB ranks)
• Home: 18-10 record, 2.43 ERA (1st), .560 OPS against (1st), 0.92 WHIP (1st), 9.20 K/9 (6th), 5.15 K/BB ratio (1st), 22 HR (tied-8th)

• Away: 11-17 record, 4.38 ERA (21st), .709 OPS against (12th), 1.13 WHIP (2nd), 6.92 K/9 (28th), 3.40 K/BB ratio (6th), 39 HR (30th)

“He’s a young pitcher. … He's got to ride it out,” Servais said. “These guys are going to make 32 starts in a year. They're all not going to be perfect, even though we get used to seeing them be so consistent. There are going to be a few bumps in the road, that happens. You've got to bounce back from it, and he will.”

The Mariners now head to St. Petersburg looking to salvage this nine-game trip after losing the first two series. This weekend’s showing against the Marlins (27-50), who have MLB’s third-worst record, was easily more perplexing than the three-gamer against the Guardians (49-26), who have emerged as a legitimate playoff contender.

“The consistency on the road, it just hasn't been there,” Servais said. “We have a lot of games to go. You're going to have ups and downs throughout the course of the season. We have played very well of late. But this trip, it's been a struggle for us.”

With an 18-23 road record, the Mariners remain the only first-place team with a losing clip away from home this season.

Moreover, Seattle began this trip with a 10-game lead atop the American League West but has since seen it cut to six games on the heels of Houston sweeping Baltimore. It’s still a healthy cushion, but one the club would like to retain. And it seems that to do so, they’ll need to bridge the gap between their home haven and road woes.