Bryce Miller is not happy. He is not entirely healthy, either.
For the second time in as many Miller starts, the Mariners were bludgeoned by a National League Central team, this time in an embarrassing 19-2 defeat to the Chicago Cubs on Sunday afternoon at T-Mobile Park.
On his 28th birthday, Miller was tagged for six runs after issuing a career-high seven walks. His command and his body language were both off, and he wound up throwing a season-high 104 pitches on a day the Mariners’ bullpen was thin.
Sunday’s loss came five days after Miller took the loss in the Mariners’ most lopsided defeat in franchise history, 22-0, Tuesday in Milwaukee.
Miller became the only MLB pitcher in the modern era to have his team lose by 15-plus runs in back-to-back starts, according to OptaSTATS.
“Obviously, it’s frustrating,” Miller said. “The whole last month has been frustrating. I just gotta get back to who I am.”
In a postgame interview Sunday, Miller did not want to use a recent issue in his lat muscle as an excuse for his recent struggles. He described it as a minor ailment.
But Miller’s downturn over the past month has coincided with the lat issue that first surfaced during his start in Texas on July 24, in which he did not record a strikeout for the first time in any start in his career.
The club decided to push his next scheduled start back a day — instead of a series finale at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles he wound up starting at home against Minnesota the following day — but since then he has taken every turn in the rotation, and the results have put into question his spot in the Mariners’ six-man rotation.
Over his last six starts, Miller has allowed 27 earned runs over 30 2/3 innings, an 8.01 ERA, with 31 hits allowed, 15 walks and 21 strikeouts.
“Probably the worst four-start stretch I’ve had,” he said.
With Saturday’s arrival of Kade Anderson, the sport’s No. 1 pitching prospect, it’s only fair to wonder if the Mariners could consider moving Miller to the bullpen, which has been a man down for much of the season.
Uncertainty around the health of Bryan Woo (shoulder discomfort) has kept the rotation in limbo over the past week, and also contributed to a worn-out bullpen.
M’s manager Dan Wilson was asked directly if moving Miller to the bullpen is something the club would consider.
“We’re looking at all different kinds of options as we, you know, approach the end of the season here. Looking at everything,” he said. “Obviously, we want to keep our rotation intact, but we’ll see how things shake down here in the next few days.”
The Mariners failed to carry over momentum from Randy Arozarena’s heroics Saturday, when they scored three runs with two outs in the ninth inning for a stunning 5-4 victory to claim the series win over the Cubs.
Leo Rivas had delivered a walkoff knock in Friday’s series opener, but the M’s lineup couldn’t sustain their mini-breakthrough into Sunday, despite knocking out Cubs starter Shota Imanaga in the third inning.
Arozarena, for the second day in a row, hit a leadoff homer Sunday to give the Mariners an early lead. It was his 20th homer, to go along with his 20 steals, making him just the fifth player in MLB history to have six consecutive 20/20 seasons, joining Barry Bonds (1990-98), Bobby Bonds (1969-75), Bobby Abreu (1999-2005) and Willie Mays (1955-1960).
Victor Robles extended the M’s lead to 2-0 when he stole second base, then third base and scored on an errant throw in the second inning.
The Cubs (75-56) answered with five in the third inning off Miller, who allowed a leadoff homer to Redmond native Michael Conforto.
Miller then walked the bases loaded before surrendering a grand slam to Ian Happ, who yanked a low splitter off the right-field foul pole to give the Cubs the lead.
The home runs were the only two hits Miller allowed in his 4 1/3 innings.
“It’s felt like all of my walks in the last month or month-and-a-half have scored,” Miller said. “But when you have seven walks, I mean, what do you expect, you know? So I don’t know. It’s super frustrating. Like, I don’t feel like that team beat me at all. I gave it to them. You give that many free passes, that’s what happens.”
In the fifth inning, Miller again walked the bases loaded, and it was only after the second walk that lefty reliever José A. Ferrer began to warm up in the bullpen.
Wilson stuck with Miller, already at a season-high 97 pitches, to face Alex Bregman with the bases loaded. Bregman hit a broken-bat RBI fielder’s choice, the final out Miller would record.
On a day when relievers Seranthony Domínguez and Carlos Vargas were unavailable, Ferrer was asked to get five outs, hardly an ideal situation for one of the M’s top left-handed options, especially with the Phillies arriving in town Monday with left-handed-hitting heavyweights Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper.
“It was the situation that we had at hand and, just, it ended up, you know, not going our way,” Wilson said. “It made it difficult there at the end.”
Trailing 7-2, the Mariners needed reliever Michael Rucker to wear it, as they say, for seven earned runs. Two position players — backup catcher Jhonny Pereda and utility man Weston Wilson — then pitched the final 1 1/3 innings, combining to allow five runs.
The Mariners (62-69) remain three games back of the Astros and Rangers in the AL West, thanks in part to the Athletics’ 7-6 victory in Houston on Sunday.
Every AL West team is now below .500.
Adam Jude: ajude@seattletimes.com. Adam Jude is a Seattle Mariners beat writer at The Seattle Times. He previously covered UW Huskies football and the Seattle Seahawks for The Seattle Times.