Wade Miley didn't get an opportunity to make his first start of the season as planned. He suffered an upper respiratory infection during spring training, forcing him to miss two weeks of valuable time. Rather than pitch with the Baltimore Orioles to start the season, he pitched a simulated game in Bowie, getting loose with 87 pitches. It was enough to inspire confidence in management to put him in the majors on Sunday, where he turned in a rather intriguing start.
Strange season debut
Inning after inning, Miley was putting batters on base. He wasn't allowing the New York Yankees to get runs, though - he wasn't even allowing them to get hits.
In the first three innings, he walked six batters, but gave up zero hits and zero runs. By the end of the fifth inning, he had issued another walk, yet still no runs. The Orioles pitcher became just the second person to induce seven walks while giving up a hit (or less) and no runs against the Yankees - the other was Earl Whitehill.
By the time Miley left the game, the Orioles had a 3-0 lead. He threw exactly 100 pitches, 56 for strikeouts, recording five strikeouts in addition to the seven walks he issued. Following some struggles after coming over to the team in a trade last season, it was a positive sign to see him have such a solid start, even if it created one of the strangest pitcher stat lines in recent memory.
It was then up to the bullpen to close the door on the Yankees - and they failed.
Orioles implode
Tyler Wilson was the first to show some cracks for the team. He gave up two earned runs during his 1.1 innings. Darren O'Day is the one who really let Miley and his impending victory down, though. He walked three batters, gave up two hits, and four earned runs.
Baltimore lost the game 7-3, their first loss in the series against the Yankees and their first loss of the season, dropping to 4-1 on the year.
If the Yankees lost, they would have started the season 1-5 for the first time since 1989. Their most statistical anomaly of the day was the career-high five walks outfielder Matt Holliday drew, just one day after recording his 2,000th hit.
As for the Orioles, they will get the day off on Monday before taking their first road trip of the season for a two-game series against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. Miley is likely to make his next start of the season on the road at the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night, where he is slated to go up against Aaron Sanchez.
