ANAHEIM -- Julio Rodríguez was a human highlight reel on Friday night at Angel Stadium, leaping over the center-field fence to bring back a would-be homer and ripping an RBI triple off the wall near the same area. And both efforts looked like they’d pave the way toward the Mariners rebounding from a sweep the day prior.
But another uneven start from Bryce Miller and the lineup going hitless in its final 12 at-bats kept Seattle from breaking through, instead sinking the club to a 5-4 loss that extended its skid to a season-high-tying four games.
Overall, the Mariners (32-30) have lost 11 of their past 16, a stretch in which they’ve seen their lead atop the American League West go from as high as a 3 1/2-game lead to now being 2 1/2 games back.
“I feel like this game, obviously, we didn't get the results we wanted at the end and the win,” Rodríguez said. “But it was still very fun to keep the line moving, get some runners moving, some steals kind of just stringing things together. Obviously, they made good plays, they pitched well and they ran away with a win. But I think we did a lot of positive things in this game.”
Rodríguez’s leaping grab at the wall in the sixth prevented further damage and kept it a one-run game, when he covered 88 feet in 5.8 seconds and went above the fence to yank back a Statcast-projected 397-foot flyball from Chris Taylor for the third out.
It was Rodríguez’s second home run robbery of the season and fifth of his career.
“I know like the outfield plays a little shallow on that side, so I just kind of had an idea of where the ball was,” Rodríguez said. “And as soon as I felt it, I knew I was ready to jump to give myself some room. ... I was on it. It was obviously, like, I think it was a nice play. But I felt on it as soon as it left the bat.”
Rodríguez headlined signs of improvement for a scuffling offense, going 2-for-4 with the triple, which left his bat at 105.4 mph and broke a 3-3 tie in the fifth.
He also sparked a fourth-inning rally by scoring the first of two runs, ripping a leadoff single, advancing to second base on a 111.4 mph knock from red-hot Cal Raleigh, stealing third and racing home on a deep sacrifice fly from Rowdy Tellez.
Those sequences were followed by an RBI groundout from Leody Taveras, and the totality of that inning underscored what Raleigh preached the day prior, the need for “creating our own luck, creating our own kind of chaos on the bases.”
Rodríguez echoed those assertions, for a team that’s averaging just 3.25 runs per game since this 5-11 skid began on May 20 -- but that there’s also still room for more.
“That's what we talked about, kind of recommitting with ourselves and stay kind of into who we are,” Rodríguez said. “And I feel like it showed in this game, and I'm looking forward to tomorrow.”
On most nights, four runs would be enough. Entering Friday and since the start of last season, the Mariners were 96-23 when plating that many.
But the five runs surrendered by Miller, including three separate blown leads while he was on the mound, represented another frustrating outing for the right-hander, who was making his second start since returning from the IL.
“I felt good early and just didn't execute late," Miller said. "So I don't know. Any time you give up five, I wouldn't really say progress. So it's just frustrating. A frustrating start.”
Miller now has a 5.73 ERA in 10 starts and is admittedly still searching for answers, after missing 19 days last month with right elbow inflammation.
“I've got to try to go day by day and one pitch at a time, one at-bat at a time, and start stacking them,” Miller said. “At the end of the day, I've just got to give us a chance to win.”