The Seattle Mariners' nine-game road trip has gotten off to a rough beginning. They lost to Detroit 15-1 on Tuesday, then blew a two-run lead and fell in extra innings, 3-2, on Wednesday. On top of that, Julio Rodriguez aggravated the high ankle sprain that sent him to the injured list last month.
The teams will play the series finale Thursday afternoon. Rodriguez, who was activated Sunday, tweaked the ankle during the eighth inning. He managed to hit a bases-loaded RBI bloop single before he was removed for a pinch runner.
It was a fright that the Mariners, who are trying to catch up to the Houston Astros in the American League West, didn't need. Manager Scott Servais said postgame that Rodriguez isn't likely to be out for long. "It's not swelled up or anything like that," Servais said.
"It's more of like a scar tissue thing. He's day to day. We'll see how he is tomorrow.
I think it scared him as much as anything, because he felt something." Bryce Miller (9-7, 3.46 ERA), who is scheduled to start the series finale for the Mariners, has held the opposition scoreless in three of his past five starts.
In his most recent outing, Miller blanked the New York Mets for six innings, limiting them to three hits and one walk while striking out six in a 6-0 win last Friday. "It's great to see a young pitcher like that at this time in the season have so much in the tank because we've got so many big games ahead of us," Servais said. During a pair of starts against Detroit last season in .