CLEVELAND -- It was Miller Time once again in Cleveland.
Cleveland Indians reliever Andrew Miller was out of action for nearly two months because of a knee injury, but he was activated from the 60-day disabled list Friday and was put right to work against the Los Angeles Angels at Progressive Field.
With the score tied at 3-3 heading into the top of the seventh inning, Miller worked around a one-out walk and threw a scoreless frame, his first a May 23 appearance against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on the North Side of Chicago.
Right out of the bullpen, Miller got infielder Jefry Marte to ground out to Jose Ramirez at third base, and after walking pinch hitter Jose Briceno on just five pitches, three of which were four-seam fastballs that could not find their way into the strike zone, he got the better of the final two hitters to end the inning.
First, Miller got center fielder Eric Young Jr. to strike out looking on just three pitches, and then, despite throwing a wild pitch that allowed the go-ahead runner to reach scoring position, he got right fielder Kole Calhoun to fly out to his counterpart, Melky Cabrera, for the final out of the frame.
In his one inning of work, Miller allowed the one walk, registered a strikeout and found the strike zone with 10 of his 16 offerings to home plate.
This season, the 6-foot-7, 205-pound Miller has thrown 15.1 innings in 18 appearances with 24 strikeouts against 11 walks and 13 hits for the Indians, who entered Friday’s game with a 10-game lead over the Minnesota Twins for first place in the American League Central Division.
Miller has allowed seven earned runs this season.
In parts of three seasons with the Indians, Miller has registered 165 strikeouts over 107.0 innings of work with 22 earned runs and 58 hits allowed. Miller has a 9-6 record with six saves and a 1.87 earned run average since being acquired by the Indians in a July trade with the New York Yankees during the 2016 season.
Miller was given a rousing ovation from the sellout crowd of 35,242 fans when he entered the game, as well as when the final out of the inning was recorded.
