The Mariners were unable to get anything going pitching or hitting-wise and dropped a crucial series to the Tigers.
SEATTLE — Nothing went right for the Seattle Mariners from the word "jump" in an 11-0 loss against the Detroit Tigers on Thursday at T-Mobile Park.
Whether it was due to being without manager Dan Wilson, who was suspended for Thursday's following an ejection from Wednesday's 4-2 victory, Brendan Donovan, Cal Raleigh and Josh Naylor all being out of the lineup or the Tigers simply coming out more prepared, the Mariners fell short on all fronts.
Seattle's day started with a 40-pitch first inning from starting pitcher Bryce Miller. He surrendered three runs in the opening frame — the first two via a two-run homer to center field hit by Detroit catcher Dillon Dingler. Colt Keith gave the visitors a 3-0 lead with an RBI double.
In the top of the second inning, Dingler bolstered the Tigers' advantage to 4-0 with an RBI single. He finished the game 3-for-6 with two runs, a homer and three RBIs.
"Very uncharacteristic by Bryce," Bench coach Manny Acta, who was filling in for Wilson as acting manager, said in a postgame news conference Thursday. "Didn't come out very sharp from the get-go and made us play catch-up baseball. But couldn't do anything offensively anyways."
Acta was "pretty close" to pulling Miller in the first inning for left-handed reliever Jose A. Ferrer, who was up and warming for what likely would have been a multi-inning appearance.
Instead, Miller settled down and was able to make it through five innings. He struck out five hitters, walked two and allowed four earned runs on five hits (one homer) in five innings pitched. He threw 53 pitches in the final four innings of his outing after the 40 in the first.
"I feel good," Miller said after the game. "(Velocity) was fine today. Averaged about (96 miles per hour), I think. I feel good, body feels good. I think it just comes down to execution and making sure I throw competitive pitches and get ahead. ... Really the last four or five starts, I think, it felt like if I split my season so far into halves, the first half of my season, a lot of things went my way. The second half, things haven't. It's part of the game but at the same time, I just got to continue to make quality pitches and continue to stay on the attack."
Miller was also able to prevent Detroit from adding on to its advantage in the third, fourth and fifth frames, but the Mariners' lineup was unable to get anything going.
Seattle grounded into four double plays Thursday and had very few opportunities with runners in scoring position. The Mariners finished the game 0-for-2 with runners in scoring position and left five on base. They mustered just seven hits, all singles, without one batter having multiple knocks.
With the Mariners offense unable to put up runs, the Tigers offense surged again in the seventh inning against Seattle's bullpen.
With one out, Detroit third baseman Kevin McGonigle hit a two-run homer to right field to bolster the Tigers' lead to 6-0.
A throwing error from right fielder Taylor Ward two batters later led to second baseman Gleyber Torres scoring to get Detroit's lead to 7-0.
Mariners reliever Cole Wilcox struck out Tigers left fielder Riley Greene before exiting the game with left oblique tightness, which brought on left-handed reliever Josh Simpson to get the final out of the inning.
Instead, designated hitter Colt Keith hit a blooper to center field that resulted in an RBI single and an 8-0 advantage for Detroit.
With the lower-leverage arms all depleted by the time the ninth inning came, Seattle went to outfielder Victor Robles to pitch.
The Tigers put up three runs on Robles for the eventual final of 11-0.
Detroit outscored the Mariners 21-4 during the series. Seattle was shut out in both of its losses.
The defeat dropped Seattle to 56-60, three games out of first place in the American League West and 1.5 games out of the final wild card spot in the AL.
The Mariners will look to bounce back against the AL East's first-place Tampa Bay Rays in the first of a three-game series at 6:40 p.m. PT on Friday at T-Mobile Park. The weekend series will coincide with Seattle's 50th anniversary celebration, honoring the greatest players and moments in franchise history.
Logan Gilbert will start game one of the series for the Mariners and Drew Rasmussen will start for the Rays.
