video thumbnail

Wade Miley on being named to the NL All-Star Team

The D-backs' Wade Miley and the Dodgers' Nathan Eovaldi made their Major League debuts exactly two weeks of one another last August, but as the National League West rivals enter a four-game series on Thursday, the rookie pitchers are a ways apart.

Miley enters Thursday's game as the D-backs' only National League All-Star while Eovaldi still seeks his first win of the season and second of his career.

Eovaldi isn't the only one to blame for his winless record so far, receiving a Major League-worst 1.1 runs of support in his seven starts, leading to an 0-5 record.

"I go out there not thinking about that," Eovaldi said of the run support. "I go out there trying to compete and not let anybody score to give my team the best chance to win."

The promising 22-year-old right-hander hasn't picked up a win since he beat the D-backs on Aug. 6, 2011, in his Major League debut. After holding opponents to eight earned runs in 30 2/3 innings in his first five starts, Eovaldi has given up 13 earned runs in his last two outings (10 1/3 innings).

Miley, on the other hand, has emerged as the D-backs' new star pitcher despite looking like a long shot to make the roster in Spring Training and starting the season in the bullpen. The left-hander joined the rotation in April when Daniel Hudson got injured and has a 9-4 record and a 2.87 ERA so far.

Last time out, Miley had his shortest outing of the season. The Brewers rattled off eight runs over 3 2/3 innings in the 10-2 loss.

"I got away with some stuff early, but the whole game I was living in the middle of the plate," Miley said afterward. "At this level, you can't live up there. You've got to make quality pitches. I wasn't able to do that tonight and it got us in a hole early."

The Dodgers will be counting on Eovaldi and the offense to continue their rebound from a 1-11 stretch, having now gone 3-1 since, including Wednesday's 4-1 win against the Reds. The win put the Dodgers atop of the NL West, a half-game ahead of the Giants and six games ahead of the D-backs. Arizona has been mired in a five-game losing streak after Wednesday's 8-6 loss to the Padres.

"As bad as we played and as bad as it looks at this moment, what we've been able to do through the course of this first half has put us in position," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. "It's that rainy day fund, if you play well enough early, it buys yourself a bad week. It's really what has happened. Maybe I shouldn't have said it because you don't want to be a prophet in that sense. It really happens to everybody."

D-backs: Saunders scheduled for rehab start
• Joe Saunders pitched a simulated game Tuesday at Chase Field and is scheduled for a Minor League rehab start on Sunday despite the 31-year-old lefty's insistence that he's ready to rejoin the club immediately.

"He's not real happy about it, but I think that's the safe way to do it," manager Kirk Gibson said. "We want him back for the long term. We all want him back in the rotation, but we think this is the way we're going to go."

Saunders has been on the disabled list since June 23, retroactive to June 17, with shoulder inflammation, and Gibson expects Saunders to be back in the rotation after the All-Star break.

Dodgers: Precautionary move sends Ethier to DL
• Andre Ethier was placed on the 15-day disabled list on Wednesday to sideline the outfielder through next week's All-Star break. Ethier has been out since straining his left oblique muscle on June 27, and he will be eligible to return when the Dodgers return from the break July 13 against the Padres.

"It's minor, but it's still there," Mattingly said. "He says, 'As long as I don't miss, I'm fine.' Well, you miss sometimes here and you sometimes way out there."

Second baseman Mark Ellis was reinstated to take Ethier's place on the roster.

• Matt Kemp continues to recover from his left hamstring injury, playing his second rehab game for Class A Rancho Cucamonga on Wednesday. He was officially replaced on the NL All-Star roster by Atlanta's Chipper Jones.

Worth noting
• D-backs infielder Willie Bloomquist is hitting .435 (10-for-23) against the Dodgers this season, while teammate Ryan Roberts has batted .375 against them.

• Since his Major League debut against the D-backs last season, Eovaldi's last three appearances against Arizona have all been out of the bullpen. The last time he faced the D-backs, Eovaldi allowed two earned runs in one-third of an inning at Chase Field on Sept. 26.

MLB.com Comments