Wade Miley on his outing, plus other clubhouse quotes

Earlier this year, Orioles left-hander Wade Miley heard some boo birds as he struggled here at Camden Yards. Tonight, as he lost a shutout with one out in the ninth, he left the mound to a huge ovation from 40,610 as the Orioles beat Arizona 6-1.

"That is kind of what we play for," Miley said. "You want to do good and do your job and it worked out tonight. Just had good command of the fastball tonight, which set up off-speed pitches. Wheaty (Matt Wieters) did a great job. Might have shook one time all night long. We had a plan and he put down the right fingers.

"I was able to use the fastball to both sides of the plate and that's huge. Had a pretty good slider tonight. Probably the first time since I've been here where that was an effective pitch for me. That helps, too, to open the outside part of the plate."

In his first two starts of September, Miley allowed 10 runs in 6 1/3 innings. Tonight, he gave up seven hits and one run over 8 2/3 with no walks and 11 strikeouts to tie his career high. He lost his shutout on Brandon Drury's double with two outs in the ninth. Now over his past two starts, he has given up one run in 12 2/3. His ERA with the team dropped from 8.41 to 6.38.

"You put pressure on yourself," Miley said. "I talked to (O's minor league instructor) Scott McGregor the other day in right field for 25 or 30 minutes. We just talked about, there is such a thing as trying too hard. Try easier is what he told me. That kind of stuck to me. Rather than try to be max effort every time, just relax and execute pitches."

Now Miley wants to show his new team and fans he is better than what they saw through his first eight starts with the team.

"I hope. Obviously build off that into the next one and see where it takes us," he said.

Miley began his postgame interview tonight apologizing for flipping his finger tonight as a joke in the direction of former teammate, Paul Goldschmidt.

" 'You've got to be kidding me,' " Miley said he thought when he found out it was caught on camera. "The bird thing was all in fun toward Goldy. He is so damn good, I just shot him the bird. I apologize to anyone that saw that other than Goldy."

With this win, the Orioles moved back into holding the second American League wild card spot by a half-game over the Detroit Tigers.

Here are more clubhouse quotes:

Mark Trumbo on confidence in Miley: "There is no doubt. I've seen him a lot, more than most people in this room. I know what he is capable of. I've seen when he is going well, this is what you can expect. Tremendous tempo. He was working in and out and had all his pitches going. He presses the issue a lot (working fast). And right-handed hitters, he can really crowd them. Just a great job tonight."

Trumbo on last night's win relaxing the team: "Yeah, maybe, I'd like to think so."

Trumbo on Trey Mancini: "It's great. Great guy and he's having a lot of fun, too, you can see that. It's been really impressive, he has faced some real quality pitching. It's a huge contribution. Looks like he is a real weapon against left-handed pitching. He looks really polished."

Mancini on hitting another homer and the O's getting a win: "This was great to get a win tonight, especially with Detroit falling earlier. We really played well, Wade pitched a great game and we had a great crowd and atmosphere here. So it was a very fun night."

Mancini on his great start: "It's been incredible. I could not have imagined it happening this way. It is still hard to believe a week ago I was in Florida and prepared for this. But it is cool a week later with everything that has happened to be here and contribute to a postseason run."

J.J. Hardy on Miley: "He was working fast and hitting his spot. He was fun to play behind tonight. He is always staying aggressive. It is not like he ever pitches scared. We appreciate that. We don't want to stand out there when someone is walking guys. He goes after hitters and tonight he was getting them all out."