Pitch Command Key for Wade Miley in Shutout of Rays
Apr 21, 2015; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Wade Miley (20) throws a pitch during the first inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Boston Red Sox starter Wade Miley took to the hill Tuesday night at Tropicana Field and blanked the Tampa Bay Rays, earning his first win of the season in doing so. Miley’s ability to throw first-pitch strikes yielded success.
In his last start, against the Washington Nationals, Miley threw the ball in an erratic fashion. He failed to establish the strike zone and showed little command of his pitches, often falling behind in counts. Miley surrendered 7 runs and walked 3. The Nationals knocked him from the game after just 2 1/3 innings.
On Tuesday, Miley settled in early and slowed his delivery to a more controlled manner. Miley delivered first-pitch strikes to 15 of the first 17 Rays hitters he faced. He fell behind in the count to only four hitters over the course of 5 2/3 innings of work. 52 of the 88 pitches he threw were called a strike.
Miley departed the game having allowed no runs on just 3 hits. He struck out 3. In victory, Miley reduced his astronomical 10.57 ERA to 6.08.
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Following the contest, Miley acknowledged the importance of throwing first-pitch strikes.
“That’s huge. It puts you ahead and you can kind of do what what you want to do from there. Obviously, in my last outing, it was probably just the opposite,” Miley said.
Because Miley was able to get ahead of nearly every batter he faced, his confidence steadily grew throughout the course of the game.
“You feel the confidence. You can kind of nibble a little bit more once you’re ahead 0-and-1 and those guys get aggressive. They want to swing and they know you’re throwing strikes, so they’re going to get aggressive and put the ball in play,” Miley said of his mindset.
In the fifth, Miley began to unravel a bit after walking a pair. John Farrell recognized Miley was laboring and lifted him in favor of Alexi Ogando.
And perhaps Miley’s prior success pitching at the Trop factored into his outstanding effort. Back in June of 2013, pitching as a member of the Diamondbacks, Miley tossed a seven-inning shutout to earn a win. He’s been remarkably dominant against the Rays in both career starts against them.