Mariners swept by Blue Jays as Bryce Miller struggles again

SEATTLE — You win this round, Canada.

There may not have been quite as many Toronto fans at T-Mobile Park as there have been in years past, but in a time that features some tensions between the United States and its neighbor to the north, the Canadian faithful who did make the trip had plenty to cheer about Sunday as the Blue Jays dispatched the Seattle Mariners in easy fashion.

Thanks to a towering three-run homer by George Springer off a struggling Bryce Miller and a dominant pitching outing by Toronto long reliever Eric Lauer, the Blue Jays defeated the Mariners 9-1 to finish off a three-game sweep in front of 36,823 fans.

The sweep marks the first three-game skid for the Mariners since they dropped three straight in San Francisco from April 4-6. After nine straight series victories, the Mariners started the homestand with a resounding thud.

Next up, Aaron Judge and New York Yankees come to town for a three-game series beginning Monday night.

“A tough one today,” manager Dan Wilson said. “Tough series for us, but one of those series that you kind of want to turn the page and move on.”

Miller first ran into trouble in the second inning.

He got the first two outs of the frame by coaxing a 1-3 putout from Springer and striking out Alejandro Kirk, but Miller gave up consecutive singles to Nathan Lukes and Ernie Clement, before Myles Straw drove in Lukes with a single of his own for a 1-0 lead.

Mariners second baseman Dylan Moore tied it with a solo homer in the third that chased José Ureña, making his second start since signing with Toronto earlier this month, from the ballgame, but the Blue Jays took the lead back in the fourth on a sacrifice fly from Clement.

The Blue Jays broke the game open in the fifth inning when Springer followed a single from Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and a walk from Addison Barger, with a blistering 416-foot home run into the left-field bleachers that traveled 111.7 miles per hour off the bat to give Toronto a 5-1 lead.

After allowing a walk and single to start the sixth inning, Miller was pulled in favor of Collin Snider, who quickly allowed a two-run double to one-time Mariner Jonatan Clase.

Miller was charged with seven earned runs allowed on eight hits, with two walks and three strikeouts to bring his ERA up to 5.22 on the season.

Despite the crooked numbers, both Wilson and Miller saw some positives in Miller’s outing.

“He’s made some adjustments,” Wilson said. “I thought today, again, the way his mindset was, I thought he attacked much better today, and was getting ahead at a better rate, and I thought the (secondary pitches) were better. I think there are some things he can take from this one and continue to build.”

Miller’s fastball velocity has been down from last year. After averaging 95.2 last season, he is averaging 94.4 on the heater through his first eight starts. The fastball that Springer hit out of the park came in at 92.7 miles per hour, and over the middle of the plate.

“I had success the first couple at-bats with heaters,” Miller said. “Not middle-middle, but really in or out would’ve been fine. I think he just got to that one. You know, he’s a good hitter and I’ve gotta, especially with two outs and it’s a 2-1 game, gotta make a more competitive pitch.”

Miller has struggled to feel healthy this year, with nagging pains dating back to last season that have made it difficult for him to pitch like he did in 2024, when he had a 2.94 ERA and 171 strikeouts in 180 1/3 innings pitched.

While he kicked off the first inning throwing 95 miles per hour, with his fastest pitch coming in at 95.9, his velocity dropped again later in Sunday’s start. Around the third of fourth inning, he began to feel some things that “didn’t feel normal,” which has happened a few times this season.

“In the past, it felt like ‘get through six innings, it’s a breeze. I feel as good in the sixth as I did in the first.'” Miller said. “It’s been a struggle to have that feeling so far. I don’t know. We’re gonna work on it.”

With his stuff not at its best so far in 2025, Miller admits that he has spent this season often not pitching as aggressively as he could. He came into Sunday’s game wanting to fix that and pitch more to his strengths against the Blue Jays, who have the third-least strikeouts in MLB so far this season, with 296.

“Whenever you’re struggling, it’s hard to stay off of your heels,” Miller said. “And I think the past few weeks, I’ve been pitching on my heels, and from the get-go. I think that was what I wanted to change today. It was to, get ahead and be aggressive and attack. I was happy with how I did that, just not happy with the results, obviously.”

Barger padded Toronto’s lead with a solo homer in the seventh. Springer followed that with a double to right field, and then scored on an RBI single from Lukes to extend the Blue Jays lead to 9-1.

Lauer came into the game with no outs in the third inning and shut the Mariners down, allowing just one hit and zero runs over 4 2/3 innings, with no walks and five strikeouts. After Randy Arozarena’s single to lead off the fourth inning, Lauer retired the final 10 hitters faced.

“Offensively, not much, ” Wilson said of Sunday’s game. “We didn’t get much going. We did hit some balls hard this series, where they were able to make some nice plays, and defensively they handled things. But again, one to move on from, and we start fresh tomorrow.”

Infielder Leo Rivas pitched the ninth for the Mariners and allowed three singles and a walk in a scoreless inning of work.

J.P. Crawford singled in the bottom of the ninth, to give the Mariners their first base runner since the fourth inning.

____