Mariners' Bryce Miller hopes for longer leash in finale vs. Pittsburgh Pirates

Bryce Miller won't have to look over his shoulder on Thursday afternoon.

The Seattle Mariners' right-hander will start the finale of a three-game interleague series at Pittsburgh, and he won't have teammate Luis Castillo warming up in the bullpen in the fifth inning.

The Mariners plan to continue with their piggyback system for their six-man rotation until the All-Star break, but this time it won't include Miller and Castillo.

Last Friday against Boston, Miller (3-1, 1.58 ERA) allowed one run on three hits over five innings, with no walks and seven strikeouts. The right-hander threw just 66 pitches and left with a 1-0 deficit.

"It's never easy coming out of a one-run game, especially when I felt like I was rolling," Miller said. "But it was the plan going into it, so there's not really much I can say to change anybody's mind."

Castillo gave up five runs (four earned) over the final four innings as the Red Sox won 6-2, saddling Miller with his first loss of the season.

"I just did my five innings and came in and threw some plyo (balls) against the wall to try to keep the pitch count up," Miller said.

Miller, who will face the Pirates for the first time, theoretically can go as long as possible Thursday as the Mariners attempt to win the series. In his last non-piggyback start, he went eight innings June 12 at Washington in a 10-2 victory, giving up two runs on four hits.

The Mariners have failed to score more than three runs in any of their past 10 games since that outburst against the Nationals.

They managed a lone first-inning run in an 11-1 defeat Wednesday, as the Pirates' Ryan O'Hearn went 4-for-5 with three doubles and three RBIs and Endy Rodriguez added a double and drove in three runs.

"I don't think we've played our best baseball yet. We've seen snippets of it. It hasn't been consistent," Pirates manager Don Kelly said before Wednesday's game in a question-and-answer session for fans.

"We've had adversity, whether that's injuries or tough losses. I think the team has shown some really good things with bouncing back. And I believe there's another level of better baseball and consistently better baseball that we'll play as the summer goes on."

The Pirates are set to start right-hander Bubba Chandler (2-7, 4.62 ERA) in the series finale.

Chandler has allowed two earned runs in each of his past three starts but is 0-1 over that span. He didn't get a decision in his team's 4-3 loss Friday at Colorado despite pitching six innings. Chandler will face the Mariners for the first time.

The Pirates could be without first baseman Spencer Horwitz, who left in the fourth inning Wednesday with discomfort in his left hamstring.

They got some good news on the injury front as top prospect Konnor Griffin, 20, began his rehabilitation assignment at Double-A Altoona (Pa.) amid a right forearm strain. He reached base four times and hit a triple and homer in an 8-4 victory against Reading (Pa).

--Field Level Media