The Los Angeles Dodgers had their four-game winning streak snapped in a 9-7 loss to the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on Friday. Bobby Miller endured a rough start after initially picking up where left off against the St. Louis Cardinals.
The right-hander struck out the side in the first inning for the second consecutive outing. It was an ideal start for Miller on his 25th birthday.
However, the wheels fell off in the second inning as a mix of command troubles and falling behind in the count contributed to Miller allowing five runs and being removed with two outs.
Miller was critical of his performance against the Cubs and said he needs to do a better job of leading the way, via Jack Harris of the L.A. Times:
“[That] second inning was just pretty unacceptable,” Miller said. “You really feel for the bullpen on games like that, where the starter doesn’t set the tone the best way.”
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts added that Miller fell behind too many counts and struggled to locate his secondary pitches:
“It just seemed like he couldn’t command anything on the secondary side,” Roberts said of Miller. “The breaking balls, the changeups were just noncompetitive. He was working from behind a lot, and they made us pay.”
Despite failing to get out of the second inning, Miller still showed flashes of dominance with his fastball. He completed the first inning by getting Cody Bellinger to swing through two 98 mph fastballs.
Miller is also only one week removed from one of the best starts of his MLB career and remains plenty capable of better results, but consistency is still somewhat problematic.
Bobby Miller looking to avoid long innings
Further adding to Miller’s frustration and disappointment with his performance is having a clear focus this season on limiting long innings. Miller endured one in the exhibition Freeway Series and said after that outing it’s an area he’s looking to improve upon this year.
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