The best of Britton and bonding with Miley

Any discussion of Cy Young Award candidates in the American League must include Orioles closer Zach Britton. To omit him would be like forgetting to wear pants.

OK, that's probably a poor analogy. There are no laws against omitting Britton. It would be a mistake, but not indecent. You'd be exposing yourself in a completely different way.

Britton lowered his ERA last night to 0.59 in 45 2/3 innings, best in the majors, while converting his 33rd consecutive save opportunity to start the season, the most by a left-handed reliever in baseball history. His 106 career saves rank third in club history.

Sporting News contributor Ryan Spaeder (@theaceofspaeder) tweeted last night that Britton's career 1.45 ERA as a reliever is the lowest in baseball history among pitchers with at least 100 appearances.

Britton hasn't given up an earned run since April. The Padres scored three unearned runs on June 21. That's it.

He's also doing it for the first place team in the American League East. The Orioles remain one game ahead of the Blue Jays.

Wade Miley may be making his first start with the Orioles tonight, but he's not unfamiliar to the team he's facing at Camden Yards.

Miley already has seen the Rangers three times this season, including his first two starts. He's done as follows:

April 6: six innings, seven hits, five runs, no walks, seven strikeouts
April 12: six innings, 10 hits, six runs, no walks, seven strikeouts
June 12: five innings, four hits, three runs, three walks, six strikeouts

Miley is 1-4 with a 5.55 ERA in six career starts against the Rangers. He's working on normal rest tonight, with manager Buck Showalter choosing to push back Yovani Gallardo to Friday night in Chicago.

Delino DeShields, Jr. is 4-for-9 lifetime against Miley. Jonathan Lucroy is 4-for-11 with a double and home run. Elvis Andrus is 5-for-15 with three doubles. Ian Desmond is 3-for-16 with a home run and six strikeouts.

Miley registered a 7.40 ERA in four starts in June and a 3.45 ERA in five starts in July. Hence, his increased trade value. Get him while he's hot.

Right-hander A.J. Griffin is 4-1 with a 3.99 ERA in 13 starts this season. He hasn't provided much length for the Rangers, his innings totals in July reading as follows:

Four innings
Five innings
Five innings
Five innings
Five innings
5 2/3 innings

Get him while he's still in the game.

Right-handers are hitting .190 against Griffin and left-handers are hitting .264. Go ahead and pencil in Hyun Soo Kim in left field, Mark Trumbo in right and Pedro Alvarez as the designated hitter.

Griffin's lone start against the Orioles came on April 27, 2013 in Oakland, where he allowed four runs and five hits and struck out seven batters over seven innings in a 7-3 loss. Adam Jones and Nick Markakis homered off him.

The current Orioles are 4-for-25 against Griffin. Trumbo is 1-for-8 with four strikeouts.

Miley and the Orioles are still getting acquainted. The relationship between Miley and his catchers especially is important for obvious reasons. It's a process, but it doesn't have to be a tedious one.

"I was thinking about that," Showalter said. "The first time you've ever been traded, you've been in one organization your whole life, it's a big adjustment, depending on who it is. But a guy like Miley, who's been with his fourth club, this is kind of old hat to him, so I think it'll be a quick adjustment.

"I've seen our catchers the last two days looking at tape of his last couple outings, getting ready to ... And they're talking. I was watching Caleb (Joseph) and him talking in the dugout last night about different things. It's an adjustment, but our guys spend a lot of time to make his path easier. We're going to try to adjust to him instead of him to us."

It's important for the catchers to learn Miley's sequences and patterns.

"He's a really quick-tempo guy," Showalter said. "He's got some (Mark) Buehrle in him, the way he goes about things, which is always good in August with the heat. But just looking for things he likes to go to. Look at the shake offs, a lot of things to get a feel for so you can cut to the chase."

No word yet on whether Joseph or Matt Wieters will catch Miley tonight. Joseph was at his locker yesterday afternoon. Wieters appeared for about 10 seconds, grabbed something from his locker and left before I could talk to him. So, here's Joseph on the process of getting comfortable with Miley, which shouldn't be mistaken for a lineup prediction:

"I think there's a blueprint there, but sometimes things seem one way and they're really not, if that makes any sense," Joseph said. "A lot of it will be done by just talking to him and some video work, obviously, just going back and seeing if he's faced these guys. The majority of it will just be talking.

"From a catcher's standpoint, you want to know the guy's best or favorite out pitch, the pitch he's most comfortable throwing behind in the count 2-0, 3-1. An off-speed pitch maybe. Where he misses. What I like to know is if you get two strikes on a guy, do you normally bounce the slider? Very basic things just to make sure you're prepared to present those pitches the best you can. But the game plan will be heavily dictated on their strengths and their weaknesses versus his strengths and his weaknesses."

So much depends on the opponent, not just the pitcher.

"There's a period there where you just want to learn the guy, because you don't always want to go straight to their weaknesses because sometimes that may not be the best pitch," Joseph said. "Sometimes you want to go mano y mano. For example, let's say whoever we're playing does really well with changeups. Well, does that mean we're not going to throw (Dylan) Bundy's changeup? Not necessarily. Whose changeup do they hit and in what location. So, those are things you feel out.

"It takes more in-game experience than just sitting down and talking. You can talk all you want, but you really find out a lot in-game. So, there's a level of communication and knowledge you can attain, but in my opinion, most of the work will be done during the game. Feeling him out in certain situations. And then you go from there.

"And of course, the catcher who's not catching is paying close attention and watching and you can learn a lot just by watching, as well."