Braves lose 4-1 to Marlins, Miller’s winless drought at 15 starts

Under normal circumstances, a team trying to complete a four-game sweep likes its chances with its lowest-ERA pitcher on the mound, especially if he’s 2-0 with a 0.47 ERA in three previous starts against this particular opponent in 2015.

But circumstances stopped being normal for the Braves’ Shelby Miller around mid-May, when he began a stretch of some of the lousiest luck and awful run support that any good pitcher has endured in a long time.

Miller gave up two runs in the second inning Sunday against the Marlins, which was enough for the visitors in a sweep-averting 4-1 win against the Braves at Turner Field, extending his winless streak to an unfathomable 15 starts.

The Braves have scored failed to score while Miller (5-9) has been in the game in 10 of his starts, the most in the majors and one shy of the Atlanta franchise high since at least 1974. Miller’s third-inning double Sunday was the Braves’ only hit until Jonny Gomes’ seventh-inning homer, well after Miller left the game.

“Just keep showing up,” said Miller, who allowed five hits, two runs and four walks in five innings. “Pitch every five days and try to help the team win. Eventually this is going to go by. Eventually I’m going to win a game and we won’t be talking about it no more.” But right now, it’s all about going out and trying to get a win for the team more than myself.”

Trailing 3-1, the Braves had two on with one out in the eighth inning for two of their best hitters with runners in scoring position. But Cameron Maybin struck out and Nick Markakis flied out on a nice running catch by right fielder Ichiro Suzuki, snapping Markakis’ 15-game hitting streak. A.J. Pierzysnki’s 13-game hitting streak also ended.

“We gave ourselves a chance, that’s all we can ask for,” said Jace Peterson, who singled with one out in the eighth after Andrelton Simmon’ leadoff walk. “Nick put a good swing on it again. Just didn’t find a hole.” That’s part of the game. Just got to keep going. It seemed like every ball we hit to the outfield, they caught.”

Miller’s winless drought surpassed Kenshin Kawakami’s as the longest for a Braves pitcher since Jo-Jo Reyes went 18 starts without a win from mid-June 2008 to mid-May 2009.

The big difference: Kawakami wasn’t very good and Reyes was not good at all. Miller made this year’s National League All-Star team and entered Sunday with a 2.44 ERA that was fifth-best in the league.

“And you know what? It could change at any moment,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said of Miller’s poor luck. “And next year, it’ll be the opposite. We’ve seen it so many times in our game. You can’t quantify it. You try to quantify it or come up with some kind of theory and you really can’t.”

Miller’s last win came against the Marlins on May 17, when he nearly threw a no-hitter in Miami and settled for a two-hit shutout in a 6-0 game. That’s twice as many runs as the Braves have scored while he’s been in any start since and six more runs than they’ve scored in a majority of his starts in that span.

The Braves, after hitting over .300 while averaging nearly six runs per game in their previous seven, managed just two hits and one run in seven innings against Marlins left-hander Brad Hand (2-2), who came in with a 4.71 ERA that included a 9.18 ERA and .382 opponents’ batting average in 13 road games.

Hand also drove in two runs with a pair of safety-squeeze bunts as the Marlins built a 3-0 lead on the way to just their third win in 16 games and their third in 13 games against the Braves this season.

Miller is 0-8 with a 3.16 ERA in his past 15 starts and the Braves failed to score while he was in eight of those games. He went 5-1 with a 1.33 ERA in his first eight starts, when the Braves averaged 4.5 runs per nine innings that he pitched. His eight consecutive losses are the most by a Brave since Kawakami lost 11 straight from Sept. 9, 2009 to June 15, 2010.

The only other pitcher of the live-ball era (since 1920) to have a winless streak of as many as 14 games and an ERA as low as Miller’s was the Mets’ Craig Swan in 1978, when he went 9-6 with an NL-best 2.43 ERA and a 14-start winless stretch.

“It seems like when he pitches, we don’t get the hits that we need to get,” Peterson said. “It’s unfortunate. We go out there every day to compete and do the best we can and get him a win. That goes for anybody that’s out there on the mound. Unfortunately his luck’s been like that and we just haven’t been able to get it done. … We’ve just got to continue to stay at it and keep swinging and he’ll get a win here soon. I promise you that.”

Miller began Sunday with the NL’s worst run support at 2.64 per nine innings pitched, including barely 1.4 runs per nine innings in his winless drought.