Mariners vs. White Sox: Cal puts on his Raleigh cap, Miller lites it up, and Seattle walks it off... twice

Seattle misses out on what should've been a straightforward four-game sweep but had some electric moments on the way

Chicago White Sox v Seattle Mariners
Chicago White Sox v Seattle Mariners | Steph Chambers/GettyImages
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Best Pitcher: Bryce Miller

7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 8 K

"BMoney" was indeed money in the third game of the series, keeping the White Sox over the seven innings of his outing. Of his 12 swings and misses that he recorded, 11 came on his four-seam fastball. Miller was aggressive, throwing 64 strikes on 92 pitches, a 69.6% clip. His splitter lacked some of its usual effectiveness but it still had its moments.

After a scorching start to the season, Miller had five rough starts in May, going 1-3 and posting a 5.22 ERA over 29 ⅓ innings. In his three starts in June, he's posted a 3.50 ERA over 18 innings pitched. No one expected him to maintain the 2.04 ERA he had when he came out of April, but it's good to see that he's made the necessary adjustments to return to form.

Honorable Mention: Logan Gilbert

6.2 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 8 K

Gilbert ran into some trouble in his outing but still managed to keep it a quality start. He was immensely aggressive, logging 20 whiffs with a 70.5% strike rate. The downside was that he ended up conceding quite a bit of hard contact, including a two-run home run to Luis Robert Jr. in the sixth inning that had an exit velocity of 111.9 mph. The upside was that he had eight strikeouts and looked darn good doing it.

His start against the White Sox falls in line with the Statcast metrics that he's logged over the 90 ⅓ innings he has pitched so far. He's got a great whiff rate (29.1%), is excellent at limiting walks (5.7%), and has a decen strikeout rate (24.1%), but his average exit velocity of 89.2 mph is below average. It's always been one of his main weaknesses, likely driven by his determination to attack the zone with strikes, but it's actually improved from the >90.0 mph average exit velocities he's had over the past two seasons.

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