DIAMONDBACKS LOSE
Pitcher lasts into fourth in 1st start in 14 months
MIAMI – No matter the outcome, it was hard to wipe the smile from the face of Diamondbacks starter Shelby Miller after making his first start in 14 months following Tommy John surgery.
That said, Miller certainly wasn’t popping the bubbly after lasting just 3 2/3 innings and being charged for five runs on six hits that led to a 9-5 loss to the lowly Marlins on Monday night at Marlins Park above a sparse crowd of 6,103.
“It was so good to be back. I felt really good for most of the game,” said Miller, who threw 85 pitches, 52 for strikes, including 17 called while mixing in 95-mph fastballs and dipping curves. He struck out five and walked two.
“My command could’ve been better. It didn’t play out as good as I pitched. It’s about getting out of there healthy; it’s about getting back on the bump after being off for 14 months. That alone is a goal reached in itself.”
Before the game, Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said he would have Miller on a “soft” pitch count but would be more concerned with how hard he had to work each inning.
Miller was certainly overtaxed as his easiest inning was the first and that included a 418-foot home run by Justin Bour, his 13th, that tied it 1-1. Jake Lamb continued the Diamondbacks’ trend of first-inning scoring (third-most in the majors) as he staked Miller to a shortlived lead with a soaring homer just inside the foul pole, his sixth.
The Diamondbacks added two more in the second, thanks to an RBI single by catcher Jeff Mathis, who played for the Marlins for parts of four seasons from 2013-16.
Then Miller, a lifetime .111 batter, drew a flurry of pats on the back after a sacrifice fly to left field for his seventh career RBI and first since Sept. 13, 2014, when he was with the Cardinals.
“Hit it off the end of the bat. That point of the game getting that extra insurance run was pretty big,” Miller said. “It’s like after hitting your first home run. Everybody’s excited, giving you a hard time in a sense.”
Other than an ignominious comebacker off his backside in the fourth inning, the only other pats on the back from his teammates would be of the consoling nature.
After the game, Lovullo was encouraged by Miller’s outing.
“Absolutely,” Lovullo said. “First thing is he’s back on a big-league mound. All the hard work paid off. I thought he was commanding his fastball; down in the zone. The secondary stuff wasn’t as consistent as he wanted it.
“It was unfortunate it didn’t go the way he wanted as far as winning the game, going deep into the game that he’s conditioned for. Just getting back on the mound and doing what he did today was really nice for all of us.”
Miller may have deserved a better fate and longer outing if not for Dan Straily, his mound counterpart, who eventually did him in with his arm and bat.
Leading 3-2 in the fourth, Miller allowed the leadoff batter on base for the third consecutive inning. One out later, he fanned Bryan Holaday on a curve in the dirt, and only needed to retire Straily, a career .048 hitter, to continue his comeback.
The count went full before Miller seemingly painted the outside edge with a 95-mph dart. However, plate umpire Adam Hamari disagreed and Straily strolled to first. A long conference on the pitcher’s mound ensued but Lovullo stayed with Miller after 84 pitches, a decision he would later regret.
The next pitch, a low fastball, was lined into right by the hot-hitting Derek Dietrich for an RBI single to end Miller’s night.
“That was a big pitch, 3-2 on the pitcher,” Miller said. “It was really, really close. I kind of needed it there in that situation, the game would’ve been completely different.
“I made a pretty good pitch and he balled me on a pitch that he was giving me all night.”
Diamondbacks reliever T.J. McFarland didn’t help Miller’s final line or his team’s chances of extending its fourgame winning streak as he got rocked for a two-run double by Marlins rookie Brian Anderson to give Miami a 5-3 lead it wouldn’t relinquish.
Straily (3-3) settled down after giving up three runs and three hits in the first two innings. He allowed just one more hit over his next 4 1/3 to go with six strikeouts and no walks.
Miller, regularly clocked at 95-mph on his two-seam fastball, nearly pulled a Houdini-like escape in the third after giving up a leadoff double to Straily. A soft single by Anderson had runners on the corners with one out.
Up stepped Bour, who improved to 5for-9 with two homers against Miller after his first-inning bomb. With the count full, Miller fired a chest-high 95mph fastball at Bour’s letters for a called third strike.
However, a flat curveball to Starlin Castro ended up in center for an RBI single shortly after.
The 32-47 Marlins, whom Arizona bludgeoned 21-4 in a three-game home sweep to start this resurgent month, sealed the victory with a four-run eighth against recently recalled converted reliever Braden Shipley, who did nothing to help his chances of sticking.
The Diamondbacks’ bats, which had been averaging a ridiculous 6.2 runs in June, went silent. Following Paul Goldschmidt’s leadoff single in the third, they were no-hit by a combination of Straily, Brad Ziegler and Adam Conley until the ninth when reliever Nick Wittgren was touched up for a triple by Ketel Marte, an RBI double by Chris Owings and sacrifice fly by Mathis.
“It’s all about getting my feet wet, having fun and looking forward to my next (start),” Miller said.
Written on Miller’s back is a Hebrew phrase that means: “In God, I endure.”
Miller certainly has done that.