SAN FRANCISCO -- Shelby Miller's demotion to the Minors last month proved helpful in clearing his mind and getting him back to the fundamentals. If Wednesday was a test, Miller easily passed.
Miller, returning from a forced exodus to Triple-A Reno, rediscovered what made him successful in the big leagues in the first place. The D-backs lost, 4-2, to Giants, but they also "found" their wayward pitcher.
"I stopped playing with my mechanics and got back to what I used to do in the past," Miller said. 'I didn't think about anything. I was trying to be an athletic pitcher."
Miller gave up two runs on three hits in the first inning, and then allowed three hits over five scoreless innings the rest of the way in his first big league quality start since June 20.
"A great job," D-backs manager Chip Hale said. "I'm excited about the outing. He was in attack mode all the way. When guys got on, it didn't rattle him. He got out of it."
Miller had trouble earlier in the season keeping his emotions under control and allowed things to build instead of letting them go. He looked in control against the Giants, even during the first inning.
"I felt good mechanically," he said. "It was a jittery first inning, but it was good to get that under my belt. I tried to take it pitch by pitch. I made a couple of good pitches they got hits on. That's part of the game."
Instead of allowing the frustration to build, Miller went back to work and limited the damage.
"You have to believe in yourself," he said. "If you can't do that, things go wrong and you struggle even more. It's not easy. It's a grind. The good thing is we're all on board as a team. I obviously struggled early and had to go down, and that's never fun. It's good to be back here and part of this group."
He's in a better spot these days and just wants to pitch. That's a good sign moving forward.