Andrew Miller

05/22/2008 11:34 PM ET

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Gem for Miller as Marlins finish sweep
Left-hander sets career high for strikeouts with nine in finale
By Joe Frisaro / MLB.com

MIAMI -- Sweeping the National League's best team is tough enough, but to tag losses on their top starting pitchers is clearly something the upstart Marlins can build upon.

As the Fish continued to stun the baseball world, Andrew Miller turned in a career-high nine strikeouts over seven scoreless innings and the Marlins blanked the Diamondbacks, 4-0, on Thursday night before 13,233 at Dolphin Stadium.

Miller, the former first-round pick of the Tigers in 2006, frustrated the NL West-leading Diamondbacks, limiting them to five hits on the day after his 23rd birthday.

Miller (4-3), Logan Kensing and Justin Miller combined to shut out Arizona for the first time this season.

Making the sweep more impressive is Florida beat Micah Owings (5-2), Brandon Webb (9-1) and Dan Haren (5-3). Haren took the loss on Thursday.

"That's a pretty good pitching staff they threw at us," Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "They pitched well, and we matched those guys. They didn't pitch horrible. They pitched pretty good themselves. We played pretty good defense. Nobody made mistakes, and we got timely hitting when we needed to."

Miller, a 6-foot-6 lefty with limitless potential, showed why many feel he will eventually blossom into an elite starter.

In the series, Florida's starters -- Mark Hendrickson, Ricky Nolasco and Miller -- combined to yield two runs in 19 innings, an 0.95 ERA.

Now 27-19, the Marlins recorded their fifth shutout of the season.

"It's a lot of fun, I know that, but it also gives this whole team confidence, and it builds our character," said veteran Wes Helms, who had a pinch-hit two-run double that broke the game open in the seventh inning. "It shows this team that we can do big things. We can't just beat the small teams, we can beat the big teams. We've shown that all year this year.

"This was a big series for us, confidence wise."

The Marlins racked up their fourth three-game sweep of the season, two of which have come at home.

For Miller, it was another step in his maturation process. Making his 10th start of the season, the left-hander repeatedly frustrated the Diamondbacks.

On five of his nine strikeouts, he caught Arizona batters looking. And on a number of occasions, the Diamondbacks were upset with home plate umpire Damien Beal's strike zone.

From the dugout, Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin had words on a couple of occasions with Beal.

Miller remained composed throughout, mixing off-speed pitches at 77 mph with fastballs topping at 96 mph. His devastating curve kept hitters off balance, allowing him to zip in fastballs.

"I was able to throw to both sides of the plate on a pretty regular basis," said Miller, who has won four of his last five decisions after a slow start. "That's when you get guys frustrated. If you throw to the same spot all night, they can kind of lock in on an area.

"That's a good sign when you are on the mound, and they're complaining about calls. Obviously that means they're not comfortable. I love it when people complain about a call. It means that I've got something that probably was not a strike, or they were not seeing something there."

As the Diamondbacks exhibited frustration, Miller kept rolling along, matching his career high for innings pitched.

"He did everything we wanted to achieve," catcher Matt Treanor said. "He's been getting better and better with each start. He's thinking. He's trying to figure things out when he's out there. He's improving every time out.

"He knew that if he pitched his game, he'd get some swings and bad contact."

At one point, Gonzalez asked Treanor if Miller was throwing strikes or getting the benefit of calls.

"Even when they got into some hitter counts, they couldn't get good hacks at him, because his ball is pretty lively in that strike zone," Gonzalez said. "I talked to Matty [Treanor], and he was like, 'Those are some pretty good pitches. They're not four or five inches off the plate. They're strikes.' They don't get good reads on it, and they don't get good swings on it."

With the way Miller was throwing, the Marlins didn't need much offense, and Florida struck quickly off Haren.

Hanley Ramirez returned to the leadoff spot for the first time since May 1. He had been hitting third.

The switch paid off immediately. In the first inning, Ramirez tripled to right-center field. With the infield playing deep up the middle, Ramirez scored on Jorge Cantu's RBI groundout to second.

The Marlins padded their lead with a three-run seventh inning. Treanor singled with one out, and Alfredo Amezaga's third hit of the game, a single, put runners at the corners.

With Miller's pitch count at 107, Gonzalez sent in Wes Helms to pinch-hit. Helms came through with a double that scored two and ended Haren's night after 6 1/3 innings. Cantu added an RBI single off Chad Qualls.

About the only downside on Thursday was Dan Uggla went 0-for-4 and had his 11-game hitting streak snapped, which had been the longest active streak in the Major Leagues. The 11 games also matched a career high for the Florida second baseman.

Otherwise, it was an ideal evening that allowed the Marlins to continue to build their self-confidence.

"If we pitch and we catch it, we've got an opportunity to compete," Gonzalez said. "I'm not going to go out and say we're going to win 105 games or anything, but if we do those things, we've got a chance, every night."

Joe Frisaro is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Congrats Mr.Miller! Great stuff!
I'm happy for you but sad you didn't pitch this gem for the Tigers.

another "Former Tiger Effect" ! Great job though, Drew!

Well, I attribute a lot of his current success to good pitching coaching THERE, same goes for JJ at Atlanta! I don't thnk they would be as good here with our pitching coach!

wonder why JV stuck around? he probably has many teams that would want him!

He was beautiful last night.

GoGetEmTigers wrote:

Well, I attribute a lot of his current success to good pitching coaching THERE, same goes for JJ at Atlanta! I don't thnk they would be as good here with our pitching coach!

I think the simple fact that they believed in him even when he was absolutely horrible in the beginning of the year helped a lot too. He had an era of like 12 something and they kept saying how much they believed in him even when the Marlin fans wanted him to die a slow and painful death. He's been really good the last 4 starts. Most importantly, his confidence is back. He looks really good out there now.

Soul, ya knew yer boy could do it!!!

laprimamirala wrote:

Soul, ya knew yer boy could do it!!!

I did Cat can run his mouth all he wants :haha: I'm glad he got the hell away from Chuck Hernandez though

Tigers are gonna regret trading these guys away

SoulRat wrote:

laprimamirala wrote:

Soul, ya knew yer boy could do it!!!

I did Cat can run his mouth all he wants :haha: I'm glad he got the hell away from Chuck Hernandez though

Hey, I've got nothing against Miller! I'd be happier if it wasn't against Haren but I'm still happy for him. When the Marlins go to Dodger Stadium this year you can bet your (insert word) I'll be there if Miller pitches.

Wow, BUG ups to Miller. Congrats!

He looked good on all the ESPN Sports Central clips this morning!

catbox_9 wrote:

SoulRat wrote:

laprimamirala wrote:

Soul, ya knew yer boy could do it!!!

I did Cat can run his mouth all he wants :haha: I'm glad he got the hell away from Chuck Hernandez though

Hey, I've got nothing against Miller! I'd be happier if it wasn't against Haren but I'm still happy for him. When the Marlins go to Dodger Stadium this year you can bet your (insert word) I'll be there if Miller pitches.

I know you don't, you just to throw in Lincecum's stats Who the fish won't see this weekend btw

If you do go, you know who to take pics of

laprimamirala wrote:

He looked good on all the ESPN Sports Central clips this morning!

he's just so nice and young.............

SoulRat wrote:

If you do go, you know who to take pics of

Too bad I'm poor and can't afford anything but garbage seats there. Dodgers charge $400 for seats equivalent to what I had in Arizona last Sunday - those were only $60. Therefore you won't get great pictures if I'm able to go

Dodgers suck

C'mon Andrew I know it's against that damn Santana, I'll forgive you if you lose today, but don't TRY to lose :haha:

GO ANDREW GO!

We gonna regret trading him

Big Time

catbox_9 wrote:

SoulRat wrote:

C'mon Andrew I know it's against that damn Santana, I'll forgive you if you lose today, but don't TRY to lose :haha:

:haha:

Poor Andrew

In other Miller news...

Today's game on TBS is the Marlins verses the Phillies.

And guess who is starting for the Fish?

Andrew Mark Miller!

I'm extremely excited for this, because of him and the chance that I'll get to see Durbin out of the Phillies's bullpen.

Cool

C'mon Andrew, fishies need to win today

GO ANDREW!