Bobby Miller was lights out at times in his start against the Washington Nationals, but two shaky innings ultimately amounted to a no-decision and a 7-6 loss for the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 11th.
Miller got through four innings of one-run ball before the Nationals rallied for two runs in the bottom of the fifth. The right-hander then gave up a two-out, two-run homer to Lane Thomas in the seventh before retiring the final batter of his outing.
Miller’s final line was seven innings pitched, six hits, five runs, two walks, a career-high eight strikeouts, one hit by pitch and one home run. It was the second consecutive start in which the 24-year-old completed seven innings.
Miller was critical of himself after the game and believes some of the trouble overshadowed positives, per Juan Toribio of MLB.com:
“Just managing my emotions is something I’ve been working on all year,” Miller said. “I feel like I’ve been getting better at it. I was executing a lot throughout the game. There was a lot of good, but I think the bad outweighed the good.”
To Miller’s credit, he was able to limit the damage in the fifth inning despite hitting a batter, allowing a bunt single and throwing error from Will Smith. The home run Miller yielded also came as he faced an opposing batting order a fourth time for the first time in his career.
Miller has made significant strides with each start in his rookie season, and owns a 9-3 record, 3.98 ERA, 3.70 FIP and 1.14 WHIP across 101.2 innings pitched (18 games).
Bobby Miller growing
After holding the Atlanta Braves to one run in seven innings in his previous start, Miller attributed his success to executing pitches and controlling his emotions.
“Just execution. It’s what it all comes down to. Trying to get guys out on four pitches, and if I don’t, get them out the next pitch by making a really good pitch,” answered Miller when asked what has been key to pitching deeper into starts.
“Sometimes I don’t, but that’s usually the goal, to not have super long at-bats and walk a ton of guys.”
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