Miley delivers effective, drama-free start
Red Sox lefty, who exchanged words with Farrell in previous outing, tops Braves
BOSTON -- Plenty of drama surrounded Wade Miley after his dugout spat with Red Sox manager John Farrell in his last start. On Tuesday afternoon at Fenway Park, the Red Sox left-hander let his pitching do the talking.
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He allowed two runs on five hits over 6 1/3 innings in a 9-4 win over the Braves. It marked Miley's fourth straight home win, which is the longest home winning streak by a Red Sox pitcher since Clay Buchholz won four straight at Fenway in April 2013.
"Wade was strong. On a day we needed a quality start, he gave it to us," Farrell said. "He got ahead strike one for a vast majority of at-bats and then he was able to work from there."
Miley dictated the pace of play, taking very little time between pitches and outs, which worked in his favor. He established his changeup in the first few innings and was able to go back to it in the last few frames when necessary.
"This is the best changeup I've had all season. The feel for it was there," Miley said. "I don't think I threw many breaking balls and really relied on my fastball and changeup today."
The two runs Miley surrendered came in the fourth inning. He allowed a leadoff walk to Cameron Maybin and an RBI double to Freddie Freeman, who later scored on a groundout.
After allowing back-to-back singles with one out in the seventh, Miley was pulled in favor of Junichi Tazawa, who recorded two quick outs on just three pitches to escape the jam.
"He had great stuff. He kept everything down. We were swinging at fastballs down," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "He didn't give them anything to hit, and that also made his offspeed even more effective."
Frustrated with Farrell after being taken out early against the Orioles on Thursday, Miley said that outing didn't give him extra motivation to do well in Tuesday's start.
"I put it all behind me from the last start and just wanted to go out and give the team a chance to win," said Miley.