Mariners swept as offense musters one hit in another stunning loss in Detroit

DETROIT – The Mariners starting pitcher turned in another masterful performance.

The Mariners offense turned in another distasteful one.

Sound familiar?

Bryce Miller’s brilliant outing was wasted when the Mariners offense was held to one hit – yes, one stinkin’ hit – in another shocking loss to the Detroit Tigers, 2-1 on Thursday afternoon.

Javier Baez, the Tigers’ No. 9 hitter and one of the least-productive hitters in the majors, hit a two-run home run of Mariners All-Star closer Andres Muñoz with two outs in the eighth inning.

“Replay of a bad move,” manager Scott Servais said.

It’s the second day in a row the Mariners wasted a sensational start from one of their young pitchers, and the Tigers completed the series sweep with a shockingly familiar script.

The Mariners scored their only run in the first inning thanks to four walks from Tigers opener Alex Faedo.

Victor Robles’ double off Kenta Maeda in the fifth inning was the Mariners’ only hit of the game. They were 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position Thursday and 3 for 27 in the series.

After adding two impactful bats at the trade deadline – Randy Arozarena and Justin Turner – the Mariners scored 49 runs and went 6-3 in their last home stand, averaging 5.4 runs per game.

Back on the road, they managed to score just four runs in the three games. The old offensive woes have resurfaced – and they’re as glaring as ever.

“You can’t sit there and feel sorry for yourself,” Servais said. “We have to be better offensively. There’s just no other way around it.”

The Mariners (63-59) came into this road trip carrying a four-game winning streak.

They leave Detroit – and head to Pittsburgh, where Pirates rookie phenom Paul Skenes awaits Friday night – riding a three-game skid and sitting three back of the Astros in the AL West.

“You can’t jump off a cliff,” Servais said. “You have to ride it out, knowing that we’ve got a good offensive club. … But you’ve got to be able to make a few adjustments. And we’re certainly capable of doing that.”

Just how bad are things for the Mariners right now?

Consider that Baez came into Thursday ranked as the single-worst hitter in the majors, based on the weighted Runs Created-plus statistic. Baez had a wRC+ of 39 (with 100 being league average).

And consider that Muñoz has been of the most dominant pitchers in baseball. He hadn’t allowed a hit in his last 12 appearances and hadn’t allowed a run in his last 14.

Unable to touch Bryan Woo for seven nearly flawless innings Wednesday, the Tigers rallied from a 2-0 deficit against Yimi Garcia and the Mariners bullpen for a walkoff win.

On Thursday, Miller was even a touch better than Woo, holding the Tigers to just two hits with no walks and nine strikeouts over seven scoreless innings.

Imagine that: The Tigers scored no runs with no walks and just six hits – all singles – over a combined 14 innings from Seattle’s two starting pitchers … and, somehow, the Mariners lost both games.

“Bryce Miller can’t do any more than he did,” Servais said. “Just an awesome outing.”

Garcia came on for the second day in a row to pitch the eighth inning – and promptly walked the Tigers’ leadoff hitter, Parker Meadows.

After Meadows advanced to third, manager Scott Servais called on Muñoz to protect a 1-0 lead.

Muñoz left a hanging slider over the plate for Baez, who hit it out to left field for his sixth homer of the season.

To open the at-bat, Muñoz threw four straight sliders – his best pitch. In hindsight, Muñoz said he wished he’d thrown at fastball to Baez on the last pitch.

“It’s tough,” Muñoz said. “But it’s part of the game. We are not perfect. I made a mistake over there, and that’s it. I paid for it.”