5/29/23

Yankees 10, Mariners 4

(Seattle, WA) While it had been all sunshine and rainbows for Seattle Mariner rookie sensation Bryce Miller, it was only a matter of time before the young right-hander face some adversity. That adversity would hit him right in the mouth on Monday in the opening game of a three-game series against the New York Yankees. With the reigning AL MVP leading the way, New York attacked Miller early and often and never relented. The end result wasn’t pretty but it was something that was bound to happen as the M’s were blow out by the Yankees in game one by a final score of 10-4.

Both offenses would get going in the 2nd inning. In the top half, Harrison Bader singled to leadoff the inning and would steal second and move to third as Cal Raleigh’s throw went into center field. The extra 90 feet didn’t matter as former Mariner Jake Bauers started his big day with a line drive down the right field line. Bader scored easily as Bauers recorded his second double to make it 1-0 Yankees. Jarred Kelenic would single and steal second to begin the home half of the inning. After a Eugenio Suarez walk, Raleigh moved them both into scoring position with a groundout. Teoscar Hernandez evened the score with a chopper to shortstop as Kelenic scored making it 1-1 after two innings.

The bad guys didn’t take long to untie the game. A leadoff single by Gleyber Torres brought Aaron Judge to the plate in the top of the 3rd. Judge did what he always does and hit a rocket 117 mph off the foul pole in left field for his 16th home run of the season. The two run missile gave the Yankees the 3-1 lead. That lead grew an inning later as Jake Bauers led off the 4th with his third home run of the season, making it 4-1 New York.

Seattle erased the Bauers home run with one of their own in the bottom of the 4th. Julio Rodriguez continued his hot homestand as he lasered one into the bullpen for his 10th home run of the season. The solo blast extended Julio’s hitting streak to eight games and provided further evidence that the Mariner phenom is turning the corner after a really rough start to the season. The home run also cut the M’s deficit down to 4-2.

That was as close as Seattle got for the rest of the game. In the top of the 5th, the Bronx Bombers broke it open. An Aaron Judge double put runners on second and third with nobody out and the floodgates opened. Willie Calhoun drove in both runners as he pulled a grounder down the right field line for his sixth double of the year making it 6-2 Yankees. It looked like Miller would stop the bleeding there as runners were on first and second with two outs. Isiah Kiner-Falefa delivered the final blow to Bryce Miller as he hit his fourth double into left field to score both runners. Those would be the last runs of the inning for the Yankees and ended Miller’s day. The rookie went just 4 2/3 innings allowing 11 hits and eight runs in his worst outing of his young career. He exited the game with Seattle trailing 8-2.

J-Rod added to his big day in the last bit of positivity for the Mariners on the day. Walks by Taylor Trammell and Jose Caballero led to runners being on second and third with two outs. Rodriguez smacked a grounder the other way into right field for his second hit of the day. Trammell and Caballero both scored to give Julio three RBI on the day making it 8-4.

New York poured it on from there and the game continued to be the Aaron Judge show. The reigning MVP hit his second home run of the game and 17th of the season with a solo shot in the 6th to make it 9-4 Yankees. They added on one more in the 9th on a single by Kyle Higashioka to make it double digits for New York. Judge put a stop to the Mariners last gasp as well as he used his 6’7 frame to rob Teoscar Hernandez of a home run to end the 8th. While the writing was on the wall, that felt like the death knell for the M’s as they went on to drop game one with the Yankees 10-4.

The loss is the fourth time Seattle (28-26) has allowed double digit runs in a game this season. Logan Gilbert will try to get the staff back on track in game two on Tuesday at 6:40pm. Gilbert (3-2, 3.60 ERA) is coming off eight innings of three hit ball against Oakland in his last time out after pitching a gem against Atlanta just before that. ‘Nasty’ Nestor Cortes (4-2, 5.30 ERA) will go for the Yankees as he tries to solve his issues on the mound in what has been a very inconsistent month for the 2022 All-Star pitcher.

Matt’s Takeaway

Mama said there’ll be days like this. Bryce Miller had done nothing but dominate so far in the big leagues and it was only a matter of time before he got roughed up. The Yankees are one of the best fastball hitting teams in all of baseball and with Miller having no control of his slider or curve, it was going to be a tough day. Now the question is how does Bryce Miller respond to this adversity? Will it derail his season or will he come back and just flush the outing and continue doing what he has been doing? We will find out this weekend but it won’t be easy as Miller’s next start is expected to be Sunday against the Texas Rangers.

Notable Performances

Yankees

• Aaron Judge- 3-4, 2B, 2 HRs, 3 RBI, 3 R, BB, Robbed Home Run
• Jake Bauers- 3-4, 2 2B, HR, 2 RBI, R, BB
• Domingo German (W, 3-3)- 6.1 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 4 SO

Mariners

• Julio Rodriguez- 2-4, HR, 3 RBI, R
• Jarred Kelenic- 2-4, R
• Bryce Miller (L, 3-2)- 4.2 IP, 11 H, 8 R, 8 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO