MILWAUKEE -- D-backs right-hander Braden Shipley wasn't as nervous as he thought he might be for his big league debut Monday night, but he also didn't get the result he was hoping for, as the Brewers beat the D-backs, 7-2, at Miller Park.
"Throughout the day I was kind of waiting for them to kick in," said Shipley, the D-backs first-round pick in 2013 (15th overall). "And I think when I got to the field, I started to get the jitters a little bit. But as I started my pregame warmups and stuff like that, it kind of went away a little bit, which I thought was good. I didn't have as much nerves as I thought I would stepping on the mound for the first inning."
The Brewers hit three home runs off Shipley, the costliest one being a three-run shot by Martín Maldonado in the sixth inning that ended the 24-year-old's night.
"In that situation I think I was just trying to get something that would induce a ground ball," Shipley said. "I had been throwing my curveball and locating it well tonight, and unfortunately I think he was just sitting on that pitch and he put the bat on it well and got it out of the yard. Looking back, it was a pitch that was working well for me, and I'm always going to stick with my strengths."
With Zack Greinke expected to need at least one Minor League rehab start before returning to the rotation, Shipley is scheduled to get the ball again in five days. His final line on Monday totaled six runs on eight hits over 5 1/3 innings with four strikeouts and four walks.
"I thought he threw some real good curveballs," D-backs manager Chip Hale said. "Changeup was probably a little hard tonight, a little up. That's what got him in trouble. I thought he looked very competitive out there. First time out, it's not easy here at the big league level, so I was very happy with what I saw. Obviously now we move onto his next start, and we want to get a winning effort. That's what we're looking for, we're trying to develop these guys into winners. We'll expect a little more next time."
Besides getting his first strikeout -- which came against Kirk Nieuwenhuis in the first inning -- Shipley ticked off a few more boxes. He swatted a double for his first MLB hit in his first at-bat to lead off the fourth, then scored his first run when Jean Segura singled him home.