Miley exits early again in 8-1 loss (with quotes)

MILWAUKEE - The Orioles didn't need further proof that momentum is the next day's starting pitcher. They've lived and died with the inconsistencies.

Kevin Gausman spins the rotation in a positive direction yesterday with seven scoreless innings against the Rays and Wade Miley throws 44 pitches in the first inning today while the Brewers bat around and tally four runs.

Just because this happens doesn't mean that's going to happen. Manager Buck Showalter preaches it all the time. Someone should pass the collection plate while it happens.

Finding home plate was an issue for Miley, who kept falling behind hitters and turned in his shortest non-injury start of the season. He was charged with seven runs in 1 2/3 innings and the Brewers cruised to an 8-1 victory before an announced crowd of 36,457 at Miller Park.

Miley gave up seven hits, walked two batters and hit Travis Shaw on the left hand, forcing him out of the game. Miley threw 67 pitches, 37 for strikes.

The Orioles are two games below .500 again at 40-42. They're 15-26 on the road.

Miley gave up four hits and walked two batters in the first inning. Five straight batters reached after leadoff hitter Jonathan Villar lined out. Shaw, Manny Piña and Orlando Arcia had RBI singles.

With no designated hitter, Brewers starter Brent Suter struck out to end the inning while Jimmy Yacabonis began to get loose in the visiting bullpen.

The Orioles don't really have a true long reliever, with Alec Asher optioned to Triple-A Norfolk. Yacabonis would have to suffice.

Yacabonis replaced Miley in the second after the Brewers took a 7-0 lead. Ten of 15 Brewers reached against the veteran left-hander, with Piña's two-run double forcing a pitching change.

Miley hasn't lasted more than 5 2/3 innings since June 1. He's gone 2 2/3, 2 1/3, 5 2/3, five, five and 1 2/3 innings.

The Brewers scored a run off Yacabonis in the third, the only one surrendered by the bullpen, and it defined the Orioles' day.

Arcia led off with a single and Suter reached on an infield hit. Arcia beat Trey Mancini's throw to third base, slid past the bag and bolted for home. He got caught in a rundown and scored when Manny Machado made a wide throw that caused catcher Welington Castillo and shortstop Rubén Tejada to get tangled up.

It looked like Tejada interfered with his own teammate, which isn't in the rules.

The play actually began to break down because Yacabonis didn't run Arcia back to third before relinquishing the ball.

Tejada scored the Orioles' run in the top of the third inning when he led off with a single, took third base on right fielder Domingo Santana's error and came home on Yacabonis' ground out. Yacabonis had his first major league RBI in his first plate appearance.

Yacabonis gave the Orioles 3 1/3 innings to spare the bullpen excessive use. He allowed one run, threw 44 pitches and wondered if he's boarding the shuttle to Triple-A Norfolk.

One possibility is Yacabonis going down, Jayson Aquino being recalled and the Orioles starting the left-hander on Wednesday if he isn't needed in relief Tuesday afternoon. Or Yacabonis is rewarded for his effort today by sticking around, leaving Showalter with a short bullpen.

Darren O'Day retired the side in order in the sixth and Donnie Hart did the same in the seventh. Richard Bleier followed with a scoreless eighth after a leadoff single.

The Orioles might have figured out early that they were destined to struggle - before Miley took his first warmup tosses.

Machado bunted into a 1-3 double play in the top of the first inning after Joey Rickard's leadoff single. Suter caught the ball and Rickard was nowhere near the bag.

There's no way that Showalter put on the bunt sign. Same as the game at Tropicana Field when Machado bunted on his own, except he didn't get a hit today.

The Orioles didn't do much with Suter, who allowed an unearned run and four hits in six innings. He walked one batter and struck out eight.

The sausage race had more drama.

Update: Tyler Wilson has been scratched from today's start at Norfolk, according to The Virginian-Pilot, and is joining the Orioles in Milwaukee.

Showalter on Miley: "You watch him on his workday, it's as good as you want to see, which has been one of his fortes, and he hasn't been able to command the baseball in the games. Everything else is there. Tells you there are some other challenges going on."

Showalter on whether big early deficits worse than close losses: "No, a close loss is tough, too. Because we've had some challenges with our starting pitching ... We've had some good outings here, too, lately. This one puts you in that - I don't want to say 'here you go again' - but it's just kind of, 'OK, we've got to fight our way through it.' There are some games that we can come back from if we can stay engaged and connected to the game. But when you've had the challenges that we've had, there's a certain mental challenge that's hard to overcome nightly."

Showalter on Yacabonis: "Darren had two days off and I knew I was going to use him one inning. So we kept the pitch counts down with him and Bleier and Donnie. They've been pitching well here lately. But Yac was the key. Otherwise, we were going to see if you could come down and pitch. Jimmy, we sent him down to get stretched out a little bit and work on some things, shorten up the breaking ball a little bit, and he presented himself well. Even got an RBI. I think the ball hit his bat as much as anything."

Showalter on whether he had a message for team after botched rundown: "I didn't talk to them. That was about appealing third base. We were told that he possibly had never touched third. I was just going by what the replay said."

Showalter on rundown: "It's an unconventional play, obviously, coming from that angle. Manny's coming in for the ground ball and trying to scramble back. Probably the biggest thing was vacating the plate. You've got to make sure your pitcher's there. But think about, the pitcher's breaking toward backing up third, and because of Jimmy's delivery, he fell toward first base. So, the play that normally a pitcher makes that's straight on. But in a perfect world you arm-fake that ball to first and take the out on the (runner) rounding second base when you realize that you don't have a play at first.

"And there's some things there. Their pitcher runs real well. And I think sometimes that catches some people off-guard. They're used to guys not doing that. But we mentioned in the advance meeting."

Miley on reason for struggles: "The command. There's been zero command. Any time you put yourself in those situations, battling back, behind in the count all the time, it's pretty tough to pitch up here like that."

Miley on whether losses like this are tougher: "A loss is a loss, man. I didn't give us a chance. I pretty much blew that one early on. The first and second inning, let them get out to a big lead like that and set the tempo for the other team. That can't happen. It can't continue to happen. Some adjustments have to be made. I don't know."

Miley on relying on experience to pull himself out of slump: "You've just got to keep grinding, keep working in the bullpen and just look for something to click. When it clicks, hopefully it can get going in the right direction. Like Buck said, I feel really good in my sides and in between, but it's just not translating, for whatever reason."

Castillo on Miley: "He was really good in the 'pen. There was command of all his pitches. He had pretty good life on the fastball, the changeup, everything was going. In the game, it was like he wasn't commanding anything. He was behind in the count.

"I was talking to him and he said he wasn't feeling like his body was connecting. I think he wasn't having a clue of what he was doing or feeling with his body, you know? But that's a guy that, he's going to give you everything he's got. He's going to be out here competing, but it's tough for him and for the team, being behind the count all the time if you don't have your off-speed for strikes when you need it. But that's a guy who's going to make an adjustment."

Castillo on big losses versus close ones: "Losses are losses, no matter if you lost by 10 or by one. Losses are losses. Nobody wants to lose a game or lose a couple of games. We've just got to stay positive and keep our head up and come tomorrow strong."

Castillo on rundown: "It was tricky. It was tricky, honestly. I just saw the guy ... I knew there wasn't going to be a play at second base, and Manny was in between second and third. I just thought that I was going to go there just in case. The guy broke there and Manny was there, and I just tried to go back to the plate, but it was late. Me and Tejada just collided a little bit and Arcia just snuck into the plate."