Shelby Miller has best outing of season, but D-backs lose to Orioles
Sep 23, 2016, 8:36 PM
Through his tumultuous debut season with the Arizona Diamondbacks, Shelby Miller has failed to keep his opponent scoreless in the first six innings in 19 starts.
Miller did that Friday and then some in his best outing of the season, despite the D-backs falling to the Baltimore Orioles 3-2 in 12 innings.
The beginning of the game led you to believe the D-backs were getting the same old Miller.
Miller started the game by walking Hyun Soo Kim and Manny Machado’s single put two runners on for cleanup hitter Chris Davis. Davis hit what looked to be a three-run home run, but Yasmany Tomas’ great play in right saved the D-backs and Miller from a terrible start.
.@CrushD19 gets his home runs robbed more than any other player.
The latest: https://t.co/5FbEkn6wiw pic.twitter.com/dDjRW0UhaD
— Cut4 (@Cut4) September 24, 2016
From there, Miller got on a roll. He allowed only two runners in the next four innings, one of which was off a throwing error by Jake Lamb.
In what felt completely foreign, Miller got out of another jam, this time in the bottom of the sixth with runners on second and third and one out, sacrificing a pop up to Pedro Alvarez and fly out Jonathan Schoop to end the inning.
Randall Delgado would relieve Miller in the seventh, ending his line at six scoreless, giving up three hits, three walks and striking out three and leaving his win in the hands of the bullpen.
They wouldn’t deliver.
Enrique Burgos and Daniel Hudson allowed solo homers in the eighth and nine inning to Alvarez and Matt Wieters, respectively, ending any chance of Miller winning the game and gave him the no-decision on the night.
The Orioles had a big chance to end the game in the 11th inning, as they loaded the bases with one out, but the D-backs were able to work their way out of it. The same couldn’t be said in the 12th even though there was no one on base, Mark Trumbo ended the game with a walk off home run to left.
It didn’t happen until late Sept., but Miller finally showed the stuff that brought him to Arizona in a trade with the Atlanta Braves. After posting an ERA below 3.10 in two of this last three seasons, the lowest his current ERA of 6.47 has been this season was 6.36 in late June.
Miller did show signs of good form, however, in his last start against the Dodgers. Unlike that start, though, Miller stabilized after the wheels began to come off at two separate times against the Orioles, an attribute the D-backs have to be hopeful transfers into 2017.
