Miller throws 7 scoreless, Mariners hang on to beat Brewers 5-3

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Jorge Polanco and Luis Urias homered, helping Bryce Miller and the Seattle Mariners beat the Milwaukee Brewers 5-3 on Saturday night.

Seattle Mariners 5, Milwaukee Brewers 3: Box score

Miller (1-1) struck out seven in seven shutout innings. The right-hander allowed three hits and walked one, bouncing back nicely after he struggled in his first start of the season against the Red Sox.

Miller threw first-pitch strikes to 17 of his 25 batters. He finished with just 78 pitches.

“I was trying to be in better counts and mix pitches better,” Miller said. “It’s easier to mix when I’m ahead in the count.”

Manager Scott Servais said Miller was in command of all of his pitches.

“Heck of an outing,” Servais said. “With the new weapons he’s got, he just went out there and got ahead all night.”

Milwaukee scored three runs in the eighth on Jackson Chourio’s two-run homer and a pinch-hit sacrifice fly by Rhys Hoskins. But Trent Thornton escaped the jam when pinch-hitter Joey Ortiz bounced into a fielder’s choice.

Urías hit a leadoff homer in the ninth against one of his former teams, and Andrés Muñoz got three outs for his second save.

.@LuisUrias03 wanted his first, too! 🔱 pic.twitter.com/xEnFcQ8DFH

— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) April 7, 2024

“Miller did a great job and we wanted that game. The homer in the last inning felt really good,” Urías said. “The pitchers have been doing a tremendous job but the hitters have been grinding.”

Muñoz retired the side in order a night after he walked four batters in the ninth inning in a 6-5 loss to Milwaukee.

“Something went wrong last night and I wanted to come here and help the team win and make sure that didn’t happen again,” Muñoz said. “I tried my best to attack the hitters.”

It was the second homer of the season for the 20-year-old Chourio. But the rookie outfielder also struck out twice, including the final out of the game.

“(Miller) pitched great for them,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “I’m not going to criticize our offensive approach. It’s early in the season and we’ve got four guys who are basically rookies in there and some guys who are just getting started.”

The Mariners used five singles to push across three runs in the third inning against DL Hall (0-1). Polanco led off the eighth with his first homer of the season.

Watch: Polanco slugs upper-deck shot for his first Mariners HR

Dylan Moore swiped second in the fourth for Seattle. The Brewers were the last team to allow a stolen base this season.

The successful theft came against Gary Sánchez, who made his first start. William Contreras had caught all 54 innings for the Brewers prior to Saturday. He had been the lone catcher in the majors to start each of his team’s games.

Moore drew another walk in the sixth but was thrown out by Sánchez as he attempted to steal again.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Brewers: LHP Wade Miley (shoulder), who made a rehabilitation appearance with Triple-A Nashville on Friday, could rejoin the rotation on the team’s next road trip to Cincinnati and Baltimore, manager Pat Murphy said.

UP NEXT

RHP Emerson Hancock (1-0, 5.06 ERA) is scheduled to start for the Mariners against Brewers RHP Colin Rea (1-0, 1.80 ERA) in the series finale on Sunday.

More on the Seattle Mariners

• ‘The time to strike’ is now for Seattle Mariners
• Why it may ‘take a little time’ for Mariners to change at the plate
• Salk: Do Mariners need a different reaction to another slow start?
• Mariners struggle with new and familar problems in opening homestand
• Why a World Series winner is so bullish on Seattle Mariners this season