Shelby Miller’s scheduled start was bumped up a day on short notice Monday, but the change in routine didn’t change the end result.
The Streak continues.
Cole Gillespie’s second-inning homer gave the Marlins a 1-0 lead, and the Braves never had a runner reach third base in a 4-0 series-opening loss at Turner Field that extended Miller’s mind-boggling winless streak to 19 starts and stretched the Braves’ losing skid to six games and 13 of 14.
Miller (5-12) allowed six hits and one run with four strikeouts in seven innings, and fell to 0-11 in his past 19 starts despite a 3.13 ERA in that span. He stepped up Monday to fill in for Mike Foltynewicz after the rookie reported to the ballpark with viral symptoms and a fever.
“He did an unbelievable job on short notice,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “He doesn’t get here till 2:30, he’s got the mindset that he’s going to be doing something else, and we ask him to start for us and he says, ‘Yeah, I’ll take the ball.’ Gives us seven innings of one-run ball, and we just couldn’t (get him any runs). I’ve never seen anything like it, to tell the truth.”
Because there was an off day in the Braves’ schedule Thursday, Miller pitched on regular (four days’) rest Monday.
Former Brave Martin Prado and Justin Bour had consecutive two-out RBI doubles off Matt Marksberry in the eighth inning that pushed the lead to 3-0 for the Marlins, who pulled to within 1 ½ games of the third-place Braves in the National League East standings.
The Braves got only three hits, never advanced a runner to third base and fell to 1-6 on a nine-game homestand.
Miller’s 2.56 ERA this season is the seventh-best among National League starters, ahead of his former Cardinals teammate and 15-game winner Michael Wacha, among others. Miller entered Monday with a .227 opponents’ average that was ninth-best among NL starters, just ahead of Giants 16-game winner Madison Bumgarner (.228).
“I’m reading a book that Rog (Braves pitching coach Roger McDowell) gave me that’s all about how stats and all that doesn’t reflect on how you go out there and perform,” Miller said. “You can make a good pitch and give up a hit or something like that. You want to put up great stats and be the best you can be, but at the end of the day it’s all about going out there and just competing.”
Miller’s 19-start winless streak surpassed Jo-Jo Reyes’ 18-game streak as the second-longest in Atlanta Braves history and the longest since Carl Morton went 22 starts without a win between mid-September 1975 and mid-July 1976. Miller already had the Atlanta single-season record for the longest winless streak.
His 11 consecutive losses is the longest single-season skid by a Braves starting pitcher since the Boston Braves’ Ed Brandt lost 11 in a row in 1935. Miller’s skid is the longest for an Atlanta pitcher including multi-season streaks since Kenshin Kawakami lost 11 in a row between September 2009 and June 2010.
The difference between Miller and others on these lists is that Miller has been very good — an All-Star — but has been undermined by the worst run support in the majors at barely 2 ½ runs per nine innings pitched. The figure has been nearly a full run run lower than that during his winless streak, and the Braves have scored a total of 14 runs while he’s been in the game in his past 14 starts, including no runs in eight starts.
“The more I’ve seen this, the more I believe that, forget about the wins and losses for a starting pitcher,” Gonzalez said. “There’s a guy in Toronto who’s got the opposite record and he’s got like a 5.00 ERA. I can’t explain it.”
The Braves have failed to score a run while Miller was in the game in 11 starts this season, the most in the majors and tied with two others for the Atlanta franchise record.
Miller made the All-Star team this season after going 5-1 with a 1.33 ERA in his first eight starts, including a May 17 win at Miami when he didn’t give up a hit until Bour’s two-out single in the ninth inning. Miller, who had a two-hit shutout that day, hasn’t won a game since.
His 19-start winless streak is nearly 50 percent longer than any other such single-season streak by a pitcher in a season in which he made an All-Star team. Nolan Ryan had the previous record of 13 consecutive winless starts for the 1983 Astros.
