TORONTO — One by one, Mariners starters Logan Gilbert, Luis Castillo and Bryce Miller approached the manager’s office inside the T-Mobile Park home clubhouse Thursday evening and made their pitch to Dan Wilson.
They all wanted action in Friday’s decisive Game 5 of the American League Divisional Series against the Detroit Tigers.
“You reckon I’ll be pitching tomorrow?” Miller asked.
“Well, Bryce, do you want to pitch tomorrow?” Wilson asked.
“I’ll be ready if you need me, Skip.”
Turned out, Miller — the Game 4 starter Wednesday — was the only available starting pitcher who wasn’t used in the 15-inning marathon that clinched the Mariners’ first AL Championship Series appearance in 24 years.
That makes Miller the only (semi-) fresh option to start the best-of-seven ALCS in Toronto. And, indeed, Miller has been tabbed as the Game 1 starter against the Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre on Sunday (5 p.m. PT, FOX).
Miller has been pitching with a bone spur in his right arm, an injury that had him on the injured list for about half of the season.
In his first career playoff start Wednesday in Detroit, Miller threw four scoreless innings before allowing back-to-back doubles to open the fifth, and then handing the ball over to the bullpen.
His final line: 4 1/3 innings, four hits, two runs, no walks and two strikeouts.
The Mariners, surely, would be pleased with something similar against the Blue Jay in Game 1, considering Miller is turning around on just three days’ rest.
After Miller, the Mariners will probably have to get creative to navigate a Blue Jays lineup that scored 34 runs in a four-game series victory over the New York Yankees in their ALDS.
Right-hander Emerson Hancock, a starting pitcher who was moved to the bullpen in early September, has not pitched this postseason, but could be a “piggy back” option after Miller.
The Mariners leaned so heavily on their four high-leverage relievers — Andrés Muñoz, Matt Brash, Gabe Speier and Eduard Bazardo — against the Tigers. In the seven-game ALCS you’d have to think other relievers (Carlos Vargas is the likely candidate) will need to step in and pick up some key outs at some point in Toronto.
The Mariners are finalizing their 26-man ALCS roster as of Saturday morning. They opted to keep 14 position players and 12 pitchers for the ALDS, though they’re expected to add ace Bryan Woo to the ALCS roster and could leave off either lefty reliever Caleb Ferguson or veteran right-hander Luke Jackson.
After Friday’s 15-inning marathon, Mariners president of baseball ops Jerry Dipoto, a former MLB reliever, joked that he might have to dust off his right arm cover an inning in Game 1.
“I don’t know how you can play a closer series, and I’m proud of our guys,” Dipoto said. “I still feel like we have the deepest roster in the league. We really tapped our pitching. I may need to pitch on Sunday, which is not good for anybody.
“But we’ll figure it out.”
George Kirby was chosen to start Game 5 against the Tigers, but Gilbert, Castillo and Miller all volunteered to pitch out of the bullpen in the elimination game, if needed.
On two days’ rest, Gilbert made the first relief appearance of his career in extra innings, throwing 34 pitches over two-plus scoreless innings against the Tigers.
“Remarkable,” Dipoto said.
After another sensational relief outing from Bazardo — who covered 2 2/3 innings and got out of tense jams in the 12th and 13th innings — Castillo made the first relief appearance of his career with two outs in the 14th inning.
Castillo needed just two pitches to retire Javier Báez and strand the go-ahead run at second base. He then retired the top of the Tigers lineup in order in the 15th inning.
After recording the four outs in 15 pitches, Castillo is a likely candidate to start ALCS Game 2 in Toronto.
“One of the coolest things that transpired in the last 48 hours after we got back from Detroit, we had our workout (Thursday) night, and every single one of the pitchers, Bryce included — who I just pitched the day before — walked through and volunteered to pitch (Game 5) if needed,” Dipoto said during the on-field celebration late Friday. “It felt very collegiate, like the guys were just — they were all-in.”
Incredibly, two of the Mariners’ three wins in the ALDS came in games started by Tarik Skubal, the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner. (The Mariners beat the Tigers in all four games Skubal started against them this year.)
Skubal proved his greatness again Friday night over six dominant innings on 99 pitches.
The Mariners’ pitching operation, top to bottom, again proved how good it is.
“Going out there and winning games that Skubal starts is pretty hard to do — and our team did it four times,” Dipoto said. “It’s a tribute to every guy in that clubhouse, to the pitchers for keeping it close. We knew this was not going to be a football score, that it was going to be a tight pitchers’ duel, and our general take was: keep it close until Skubal’s out of there and we’ve got a chance to win this game.”
Now they have a chance to do it all again in Toronto.