Grit Index: Rough start plagues Miley, D-backs in loss to Blue Jays

The Arizona Diamondbacks’ night got off to an ominous start against the Toronto Blue Jays when starting pitcher Wade Miley gave up a run on three hits in the first inning. While he was able to strand two runners to end the inning, it didn’t get much better for him or his team Tuesday.

Arizona ended up
dropping the second game of the three-game series 10-4, as Miley managed to work just 1.2 innings, while giving up eight hits, five earned runs, two walks to go along with three strikeouts.

Heading into the contest, Miley had a decent track record in Interleague play this season with a 2-0 record and a 2.67 ERA in four starts.

Luckily, Josh Collmenter was fresh and ready to go in the D-backs’ bullpen.

The right-hander was able to relieve Miley and worked 3.1 innings, giving up just one unearned run and two hits.

After Collmenter, Kirk Gibson turned to Chaz Roe, David Hernandez, Will Harris and Eury De La Rosa, who combined to give up a total of five runs on seven hits, including three home runs.

As for Arizona’s offense, it seemed like déjà vu of Monday — aside from three home runs. The D-backs recorded seven hits but were 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position with one walk on the night.

With the loss, the Diamondbacks are now eight games out in the Wild Card race with St. Louis, Cincinnati and Washington sitting in front of them.

The Good:

Despite the poor offensive performance again Tuesday, the D-backs did manage to tie a season-high with three home runs in a game. It’s the 10th time they’ve done that in 2013 and it also snapped a five-game homerless streak at Chase Field.

From a pitching perspective, long reliever Josh Collmenter continues to shine in his role out of the bullpen. He now has nine outings this season of at least three innings pitched. That’s the most by a National League reliever since Darren Oliver in 2006, who had 10 that year.

The Bad:

Miley’s 1.2 innings pitched marked the shortest start of his career — a mark previously set with his 3.2 innings work May 10, 2013 against the Padres and June 30, 2012 against the Brewers

Including Tuesday night’s game, the D-backs have hit into 132 double plays this season — the most in all of baseball. The St. Louis Cardinals are second with 131.

Speaking of grounding into double plays, Martin Prado has hit into 26 of them this season. That’s the second-most in all of baseball behind St. Louis’ Matt Holliday, who has hit into 28.

Noted:

– Edwin Encarnacion continued to kill Arizona pitching Tuesday night. He was 3-for-3 with a single, a double and two walks, one of which was intentional. The 30-year-old has hit eight home runs in 14 career games at Chase Field, including his 36th of the season in the eighth inning. The solo shot gave him a record of five straight games with a home run at Chase Field.

-Arizona’s Martin Prado has a 10-game hitting streak and has hit safely in 19 of his last 20 games

-Infielder Chris Owings made his Major League debut tonight pinch-hitting in the fifth inning.

He Said It:

“Yeah, because you want to go back out there, I mean after that mess. I mean I don’t even know how many pitches I threw. I felt like I did nothing, I walked in and I was like ‘Well, now I gotta watch nine innings, eight innings of a baseball game.’ It’s my fault that we’re in this predicament.” — Starter Wade Miley when asked if the next four or five days will feel really long after Tuesday’s start

Up Next:

The D-backs play the series finale against the Blue Jays and the finale of their nine-game home stand on Wednesday afternoon at Chase Field. They’ll be trying to avoid a three-game sweep against Toronto. First pitch is at 12:40 and can be heard on Arizona Sports 620.

For Arizona, right-hander Randall Delgado (4-5, 3.67 ERA) will make the start. Delgado has allowed three runs or less in seven of his eight home starts and is 3-2 with a 3.48 ERA in his last eight starts overall. In his last outing, Delgado suffered a 1-0 loss to the Giants on August 30 after allowing just one earned run in seven innings.

Left-hander Mark Buerhle (11-7, 3.92 ERA) will be on the mound for Toronto Wednesday. The 34-year-old has 28 starts in 2013 with one complete game. In his last start on August 30, Buerhle allowed just four hits over seven shutout innings while walking one and striking out five against Kansas City.

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