BOSTON - You just don't know what you're going to get from Wade Miley on a start-to-start basis.
The Sox lefty is in his first season with the team, and to say it's been a bit of a roller-coaster would be an understatement.
There's been really good Wade Miley and really bad Wade Miley. Hey, that's better than what we can say for some of the other Red Sox starters this season.
Take for instance the fact that Miley has allowed at least five earned runs in a game at least once a month, and really that's putting it mildly. He's allowed six and seven earned runs in a start, respectively, in the same month twice (April and July).
But he's also had the games in which he rolls through the opposition at lightning speed, sending them down in order within minutes of his defense taking the field.
In five of Miley's last eight starts, he allowed two earned runs or fewer. In the other three, well, just remember that word "roller-coaster".
But the Sox got really good Wade Miley on Thursday night, and it just so happened to come against the best team in the American League, the Kansas City Royals.
Miley shut the Royals down for most of his outing, allowing just a solo home run to Mike Moustakas in the fifth inning. Before that, no Royals batter had reached second base.
He pitched into the eighth but was lifted with one out and a man on second. He allowed just the one run and six hits on the night with six strikeouts.
"Great outing for Wade," Torey Lovullo said. "Just an easy three-pitch mix. Quick, easy outs and for me he deserved the right to go back out there for the eighth inning. Just keep him on a short-leash. Didn't want to extend him too far. I know his last outing he was [extended a little bit.] He has earned that right to go out there and get those extra outs and tonight was a good night for him."
It was the second straight strong outing from Miley, who shut the Mariners down last weekend, though it was overshadowed by the Red Sox 22 runs.
Tonight, the Sox could muster up only four, but it was more than enough.
"I think [Ryan Hanigan] did a great job of kind of getting me through the first inning and then kind of got on a roll after that," Miley said. "Located pitches well, was able to get ground balls, defense did great, and we scored enough runs to win the game."
Miley threw 114 pitches, 80 for strikes. Lovullo allowed him to go back out for the 8th at 102 pitches because he had been in command all night.
"He was really on his game with all his stuff," Hanigan said. "He had a good game plan with these hitters in terms of what he was trying to do. He was getting in good counts. His pitches were working right, balls were moving away from righties. All four pitches were good. He was able to do different things with each pitch, throwing for a strike, throwing for expand, pitched out of a few tough situations and got some quick outs. He was really good, he did it all."