Mariners defeat Atlanta 2-1 in their matchup of opposing no-hitters.

Similar like playing banjos, but with curveballs and four-seamers that had run

Everybody knows that baseball isn’t fair when they join up for it. You can toss a gem on the mound and still get marked with a “L,” or you can square up a ball flawlessly and have it go for an out. As a pitcher, nothing is perhaps more disheartening than watching hours of hard effort come undone with one delivery.

Tonight, Bryce Miller outperformed Braves starter Max Fried in every aspect save one that was regrettably crucial—the scoreboard. The exquisite sand castle he had laboriously constructed over hours on end threatened to crumble beneath the Braves’ offensive tsunami. But the Mariners produced just enough offense to give Miller a win, because, as previously mentioned, baseball is not fair, but enough to ensure the Mariners secured another victory, which is all that matters to anyone, including Miller. Miller turned back the tide, demonstrating how much he has matured since facing these Braves.

In May 2023, Miller faced Atlanta for the first time. It was only his fourth start of the season, but the rookie managed to keep the strong Braves offense at bay until the seventh inning, giving up just one run to score, navigating some base traffic, and striking out four batters. After walking a runner in the seventh and giving up a leadoff base single, he exited the field; both of the inherited runners would later score.

Miller outperformed himself tonight, pitching through the seventh inning, striking out ten and maintaining a perfect game through the sixth and seventh innings, respectively. On a night that may have been overhyped as a pitching matchup between two of the best young starters in the game, Miller outperformed Fried in innings pitched—seven to six—and gave up just one walk compared to Fried’s two. In contrast to Fried’s seven strikeouts, he collected more whiffs. However, with the Mariners trailing 1-0, Miller was headed for the defeat as he left the field after the seventh inning.

“Last year, I decided to keep throwing the fastball and see what happens if it wasn’t working or if I gave up a couple hits on it,” Miller said after the game. “However, now that I have additional material, they were seeing things that they had either not seen before or had not seen much of.” Entering the second half of the game is crucial.

After the game, Scott Servais remarked, “That’s about as good an outing we’ve seen Bryce maybe ever have.” “He was showcasing some sort of electric fastball tonight.”

In a lovely little palindromic run, Miller went nine up and nine down in the first three innings while striking out five times: twice in the first, once in the second, and twice in the third. He executed his four-seam fastball with possibly the best command we’ve seen so far this season, striking out seven of nine batters on first pitches. A classic* (*early 2023) Bryce Miller show, with a heavy reliance on his four-seamer and a sprinkling of his entertaining new toys, the two-seamer, sweeper, and splitter, for picking up outs at the plate and on the ground.

Ronald Acuña Jr. began the seventh inning with a base hit on a fastball away that Dylan Moore, filling in for the injured J.P. Crawford, couldn’t quite corral. Miller’s only error occurred in the seventh inning. The perfecto had been gone on a walk to Travis d’Arnaud in the sixth, which was just as quickly erased by former Mariner Jarred Kelenic grounding into a double play on the sweeper. Then he snatched second and third, quite violently. I thought manners were everything in the South?

Servais referred to those as the game’s three biggest outs. That simply demonstrates to me how mature he is at this point. A lot of people simply lose it when a night like that gets away from them, but he managed to keep it together, which is commendable.

“Bryce Miller is one special kitty. Big Tex is here. Big Tex is always there. You seen that play out tonight. He never goes too high or too low.

In the meantime, the Mariners made every effort to oppose Max Fried, who was engineered in a lab to be a nightmare for the 2024 Mariners who are intolerant of spin and breaking balls. They did work some counts: Mitch Garver actually worked a walk in the second inning, but Cal Raleigh struck him out after he swung through a fastball. Rodríguez and Haniger also worked full counts in the first.

Jorge Polanco made contact, but it was a soft popout, and Ty France lunged after a curveball for a strikeout. Polanco receives a star as well for a ten-pitch at-bat in the fourth that resulted in a strikeout. The fact that a ten-pitch strikeout is noteworthy enough to be mentioned speaks much about the caliber of these previous at-bats. But give credit where credit is due: By the bottom of the fourth inning, Fried’s pitch count had climbed into the sixties, and by the top of the fifth inning, Bryce Miller had reached a trim 46 (with 33 strikes!).

But even with Fried out of the game, the Mariners lost to Pierce Johnson quietly in the seventh, but Ty France’s walk to start the eighth inning gave them some momentum against Joe Jiménez. The Mariners eventually released Josh Rojas from his platoon cage with a righty on the mound. Naturally, he promptly collected a hit to end the no-hitter. Rojas is currently filling in for 2023 J.P. Crawford, helping this squad out when they are in dire need of a runner on base. Regardless of handedness, he must play in every game.

Jiménez was really on the ropes for the Mariners, but Luis Urías struck out immediately after Rojas broke up the no-hitter, which would have been that most hideous of beasts, the combined no-hitter. The sound Dave Sims made was described to me as “soul-hollowing,” but I wasn’t paying attention. Luke Raley, a pinch hitter, saved face, though, loaded the bases for Haniger and Julio with one out after he practically put a single through the same place. One of them could definitely profit from the run, right? Not at all, as Julio lunged after a slider that landed up in the next batter’s box, and Mitch Haniger, who has been quietly having a terrible few weeks, struck out. Haniger then chased a slider and popped it out to shallow left field.

It felt reasonable that the Mariners would lose this game at this point, even though it did not feel fair to deal Bryce Miller this loss. They had opportunities, but they had wasted them. The Mariners hitters had not outperformed the Braves hitters, but Miller had been better than Fried. That’s just the way things are sometimes.

up until it isn’t.

braves nearer Having pitched yesterday, Raisel Iglesias was not available today, therefore Atlanta substituted lefty A.J. Mintner. He was greeted by Jorge Polanco, who leaped on the first fastball he saw and scored a run down the left field line. That brought up Mitch Garver, who has, to put it mildly, been struggling at the plate. After Garver took a 3-0 lead, it took two pitches—one close and one not so much—to complete the inning.

Next, Minter positioned a cutter in the center of the dish. And Garver didn’t miss it this time.

Servais remarked, “I think he can breathe now.” “He achieved great success. It does assist once you score big with a new squad.

Garver called his first-ever walk-off home run at any level “relief,” not just because it finished the game but also because it came at a time when he has been struggling at the plate.

“To be able to contribute in any way to the team during a period when things aren’t going my way and I’m not feeling quite like myself, that’s a huge W.”

Tonight, one swing had the potential to ruin Miller’s excellent performance, and one solid swing could also end Garver’s frustrating run of play. It serves as a helpful reminder that despite how annoying baseball can sometimes be, as Garver

“There are times when the game rewards you as well.”