Bobby Miller endured another inconsistent start as he managed to complete just four innings in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 3-2 loss to the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday.
The right-hander struggled with his command throughout the outing, walking three hitters and allowing a home run on a poorly placed fastball. He gave two up runs on five hits with four strikeouts, exiting after 76 pitches.
The short start meant the Dodgers bullpen had to pick up the load. Alex Vesia recorded two outs before making way to Michael Grove, who threw 2.1 scoreless innings in what was his best outing of the season.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts praised Grove for giving the bullpen a much-needed boost, via SportsNet LA:
“It was great. It was a big outing for Michael. He’s certainly talented, and for him to eat up two and a third innings for us was big to keep us online as far as in the ‘pen and managing workloads. He just had a good rhythm. His breaking ball was good, fastball good, very efficient. We needed every bit of that one.”
The scoreless outing was a nice bounce back for Grove, who allowed three runs in his previous appearance against the Chicago Cubs. Prior to Wednesday, the 27-year-old had given up at least three runs in three of his first four games this season.
Grove owns a 9.00 ERA, 3.01 FIP and 1.70 WHIP in 10 innings of work across five appearances.
Michael Grove embracing any role with Dodgers
Although a starting pitcher by trade, Grove said during Spring Training that he is open to any role with the Dodgers.
The former second-round draft pick was primarily used as a starter in each of his first two MLB seasons, but has exclusively pitched out of the bullpen this year.
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