FORT MYERS, Fla. – Ten days after Shelby Miller left his spring-training debut without recording a second out, the performance now seems like little more than a footnote, and a fading one.
The Braves right-hander turned in his second consecutive strong outing Tuesday, allowing four hits and two walks with three strikeouts in four scoreless innings of an 11-3 win against the Red Sox at Fenway South.
“Today we fell behind in some counts and worked our way back, and got Jace (Peterson) turned two great double plays,” said Miller, who had 37 strikes in 62 pitches. “I threw more pitches than I wanted to, from getting deep into counts, but at the end of the day I felt good. But still got some things to work on.”
Miller used his sinker to induce 4-6-3 double plays to end the third and fourth innings, with second baseman Peterson tossing to shortstop Andrelton Simmons to start each.
“He was outstanding,” Braves catcher Christian Bethancourt said of Miller. “He made some quality pitches when we needed him to make some quality pitches. He was facing some really good hitters, a good Red Sox lineup, and he handled it well.”
Miller was charged with three hits, four runs and two walks while recording just one out in his March 7 Braves debut against the Tigers. In his two starts since, against the Yankees and Red Sox, he’s allowed six hits, one run and three walks with five strikeouts in seven innings.
“Yeah, the first (start) was a little rough,” he said. “You’re going to have some rough outings and you’re going to have some good ones. The best thing you can do is learn from the good ones and the bad ones. That’s part of the game of baseball and part of pitching, and that’s just what I’ve been trying to do.”
