The Pirates and Diamondbacks dipped into extra innings on Sunday night, and that forced the Diamondbacks to get pretty creative with their defensive alignment. In fact, three starting pitchers – Zack Greinke, Shelby Miller, and Patrick Corbin – came off the bench and entered the game at one point or another.
For example, in the 12th inning, Greinke came in to pinch hit for reliever Tyler Clippard. Once he reached base, Shelby Miller pinch ran for him, went to third on a David Peralta double, and ultimately scored on the next play.
But … the game didn’t end there, which forced the D-Backs’ hand.
With the score tied at 10, Brandon Drury moved from right field to second base, Jean Segura shifted from second base to shortstop, Yasmany Tomas moved from left field to right and Shelby Miller trotted out to left field to play some defense.
And hey! He wasn’t half bad:
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“Patrick, Shelby and Zack are all really good athletes, and they can handle it,” D-backs manager Chip Hale said via Dbacks.com. “If Robbie was available, him, too. We don’t discriminate on that. They can all do that.”
In the end, the Diamondbacks lost 12-10, but at least we got to see Miller make some plays. Maybe he can make a career after pitching.