Four starts into the Wade Miley era in Baltimore, and the Orioles rotation is no more stable than when he arrived. In the short term, his brief outing Friday sapped a bullpen already stocked with long relief, necessitating at least one pitching addition for Saturday.
In the long term, it leaves the Orioles waiting for the pitcher who came advertised as an innings-eater who will give his team a chance to win every fifth day.
On Friday, Miley was staked to a 5-1 lead by way of four first-inning home runs, but failed to pitch out of the second and left trailing 6-5, having fanned five but given up six runs on six hits to raise his Orioles ERA to 9.53.
"It was terrible," Miley said. "It's embarrassing for that to happen. I flat-out stunk. Everything I threw was in the middle and to a team like that, they're not expecting to miss those. … I made a lot of mistakes over the middle of the plate, even if I had strikeouts. A lot of fastballs, trying to get ahead.
"But they were just middle-cut and those guys drove them. Then again, that's on me. I've got to set a better tempo than that. And then the offense picked me up in the first inning scoring the five obviously. And then I give it right back. That can't happen. You can't ruin games like that."
When he was acquired, Miley was coming off one of his best starts of the season, a nine-strikeout, one-run game against the major league-leading Chicago Cubs. He left the Seattle Mariners, from whom he was acquired for left-hander Ariel Miranda, with a 7-8 record and 4.98 ERA.
He has bounced around a bit over the past few years, but is seen as a durable left-hander who at the very least can pitch deep into games.
Miley has now made four starts with the Orioles, with not much going his way. His debut ended with four runs allowed in five innings, pulled after a line drive off his lower leg. He took the loss despite six strong innings of two-run ball on Aug. 9 in Oakland, but allowed six earned runs in 4 1/3 innings in the Orioles' dramatic 8-7 win Sunday in San Francisco.
It was more of the same difficulties Friday.
"I think just results, you know?" manager Buck Showalter said. "We're at that stage of the season where it's about results. Obviously, [he's] got a pretty good feel about what he has to do to be successful. Obviously, hasn't been getting results here we hoped to get lately, but he's got a track record for bouncing back and hopefully he'll pitch better next time out."
Outfielder Mark Trumbo played with Miley in Arizona, and empathizes with him, being something of a well-traveled player himself.
"I've been through it personally, so I know what he's going through," Trumbo said. "In-season trades are extremely difficult. He's doing the best he can to get acclimated. I'm not making excuses for him, but he's probably not totally adjusted yet, and until he kind of feels at home, it's tough to go out there. But he's going to battle, he's going to give it what he has, and we're always there for him."