Bryce Miller Dominates, Bases-Loaded Walk Sinks Angels 1-0
Bryce Miller threw 7.0 innings of two-hit, zero-walk, eight-strikeout baseball, and Seattle needed exactly one run to make it count. A sixth-inning bases-loaded walk to Cal Raleigh — scoring J.P. Crawford — was the only thing that separated these two teams on July 3.
The story of the night was Miller, and it wasn't particularly close. Seven innings, two hits, no walks, eight strikeouts — that's a line that makes opposing hitters want to forget the at-bats ever happened. Los Angeles managed just those two hits off him all night, with Nolan Schanuel going 2-for-4 as the lone Angel who looked even remotely comfortable at the plate. Denzer Guzman and Jorge Soler each went 1-for-4, but the Angels never strung anything together. Eduard Bazardo closed it out with a clean ninth — 1.0 IP, no hits, no walks, two strikeouts — and Seattle's pitching staff had itself a gem.
The game's only run came in the sixth inning, and it arrived in the most maddening way possible if you're an Angels fan. With Crawford on base, Arozarena at second, and Canzone at third, Walbert Urena issued a walk to Raleigh — Crawford scored, Arozarena moved to second, Canzone to third. That's it. That's the ballgame. The win probability swung from 65% to 80% on that single pitch, a 15-point jump that effectively ended the Angels' night before the seventh inning even began. Urena finished with 5.2 innings pitched, allowing just 1 hit but walking 4 batters — and that wildness is what ultimately cost Los Angeles. Samy Natera Jr. came on in relief and was sharp, going 1.1 innings with no hits, no walks, and 3 strikeouts, but the damage was already done.
On a night when Julio Rodriguez left the game after being hit in the back of the helmet by a thrown ball — per ESPN — Seattle still found a way to manufacture the only run it needed. That appears to speak to the depth this roster can lean on when things go sideways. Randy Arozarena went 1-for-2 and was a key piece of the sixth-inning threat, and Crawford's run was the difference. For the Angels, this looks like a game that will sting: their pitching wasn't bad, their offense just couldn't do anything with Miller on the mound. When your best offensive output is two scattered singles and you're facing a starter throwing that kind of stuff, 1-0 feels inevitable in hindsight. Seattle takes the win; Los Angeles heads into the July 4th holiday weekend with a shutout loss to think about.