MIAMI — Monday is a day that Shelby Miller has been waiting for since he underwent elbow surgery more than 14 months ago.
The Arizona Diamondbacks right-hander will make his first major-league appearance since April 23 Authentic Jameis Winston Jersey , 2017, facing the Miami Marlins and right-hander Dan Straily (2-3, 4.89 ERA).
The Diamondbacks, who lead the National League West with a 44-33 record, have won four games in a row.
Now they get back Miller, a 27-year-old former first-round pick who was drafted 19th overall by the St. Louis Cardinals in 2009. He went 15-9 with a 3.06 ERA in 2013, finishing third in the Rookie of the Year voting.
Since then, however, Miller has been traded twice — by the Cardinals to the Atlanta Braves and then to Arizona before the start of the 2016 season.
So far, the Diamondbacks haven’t gotten much return on their investment. Miller went 3-12 with a 6.15 ERA in 2016 and 2-2 with a 4.09 ERA before getting hurt a year ago, lasting just four starts.
“I definitely have some things to prove over here,” Miller, an All-Star with Atlanta in 2015, told azcentral.com. “I feel I was throwing pretty well last year. Unfortunately, I got hurt.”
Monday represents a fresh start for Miller, who made four starts in extended spring training earlier this year followed by four minor-league rehab appearances.
“I’m super excited to be here,” Miller said. “For me, it’s a huge accomplishment.
“Command was the last thing to come back. But I feel it is there now. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t feel I was ready to pitch.”
Straily, who will be Miller’s counterpart on Monday Womens Jameis Winston Jersey , faced Arizona earlier this year, allowing one run in 4 1/3 innings of a 6-1 loss to the Diamondbacks on June 3.
In Straily’s most recent start, he lasted just 1 1/3 innings before he was ejected for the first time in his career, exiting during a 6-3 loss to the San Francisco Giants.
Straily was tossed out after he hit Giants star catcher Buster Posey with a pitch.
“I don’t know,” Posey said when asked by the media if the hit-by-pitch was intentional. “It sure seemed that way.”
Of much bigger concern for the Marlins (31-47) is the fact that they have lost their past five games when Straily starts. Straily has zero quality starts during that span.
The Marlins, who are in last place in the NL East, beat the Colorado Rockies 8-5 on Sunday for their second straight win.
Miami finished 5-4 on its road trip to the Baltimore Orioles, San Francisco Giants and Colorado, taking two of the three series. It is Miami’s first winning road trip of the year.
The Marlins are 11-11 in June, which has already made this their best month of the season. And they have more road wins (17-26) than home victories (14-21).
Meanwhile, Arizona has a winning record at home (23-16) and on the road (21-17). They are 16-6 in June after a poor May (8-19). The Diamondbacks are also 3-0 against the Marlins.
Hot Miami hitters include left fielder Derek Dietrich, who was 4-for-5 on Sunday to raise his batting average to .302, and catcher J.T. Realmuto, who went 1-for-3 and is batting .308.
Dietrich batted .476 for the week with three homers and three multi-hit games. Realmuto hit .360 this week with five doubles, one homer, six RBIs and at least one hit in all six games.
The Oakland Raiders released pass rusher Aldon Smith after his latest run-in with the law.
The Raiders retained Smith’s contractual rights even as he spent the past two seasons on the NFL’s suspended list. But the team decided finally to cut ties one day after San Francisco police said authorities were searching for Smith in connection with a domestic violence allegation.
San Francisco police said an arrest warrant has been obtained for Smith stemming from allegations that Smith assaulted a woman on Saturday night. Smith left before police arrived to respond to the 911 call and authorities are working with Smith’s attorney to arrange a time for him to surrender.
Smith is facing misdemeanor charges of willful infliction of corporal injury, assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury, false imprisonment and vandalism, according to Sgt. Michael Andraychak.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
NEW YORK (AP) – Veteran play-by-play announcer Verne Lundquist will not be calling NCAA Tournament basketball games this year.
CBS and Turner Sports announced the commentator teams Monday for the men’s basketball tournament Authentic DeSean Jackson Jersey , which starts next week. Jim Nantz, Bill Raftery and Grant Hill will continue to announce the Final Four and championship game. Those games, along with the tournament selection show on Sunday, will be televised on TBS.
Lundquist, 77, has been calling tournament games for CBS since 1998. He stopped calling the Southeastern Conference football game of the week on CBS after the 2016 season, but still did the NCAA Tournament and Masters golf in 2017.
CBS spokeswoman Jennifer Sabatelle said Lundquist had back surgery last fall and decided to step away from doing this year’s tournament.
BOXING
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Middleweight boxer Canelo Alvarez has tested positive for a banned drug, and his promoters blame contaminated meat.
A voluntary test showed Alvarez had traces of clenbuterol. A statement from Golden Boy Promotions said the amount was consistent with meat contamination that has impacted athletes in Mexico and China.
Daniel Eichner, director of the World Anti-Doping Agency-accredited laboratory that conducted the test, wrote: ”These values are all within the range of what is expected from meat contamination.”
Alvarez is scheduled for a rematch with middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin on May 5 in Las Vegas, a highly anticipated fight after their draw last year.
BASEBALL
JUPITER, Fla. (AP) – Shortstop Paul DeJong and the St. Louis Cardinals agreed to a $26 million, six-year contract, a deal that includes team options for 2024 and 2025.
The 24-year-old made his major league debut last May 28 and hit .285 with a team-high 25 homers and 65 RBIs in 108 games. He was selected by St. Louis from Illinois St. in the fourth round of the 2015 amateur draft.
DeJong is 3 for 14 with a double and two RBIs in spring training this year.
His deal covers up to four years of arbitration eligibility and one-to-three years of free agent eligibility.
SOCCER
LONDON (AP) – The head of the English Football Association has apologized for ”any offense” caused after equating the Star of David with the swastika while discussing religious and political symbols that should be prohibited in the game.
FA CEO Martin Glenn said those symbols are ”the things we don’t want” being displayed by teams. Britain’s Jewish Leadership Council called Glenn’s comments ”offensive and inappropriate.”
Glenn says he will speak to the JLC and soccer anti-discrimination group Kick It Out to apologize.
In a statement, Glenn says ”I would like to apologize for any offense caused by the examples I gave when referring to political and religious symbols in football, specifically in reference to the Star of David, which is a hugely important symbol to Jewish people all over the world.”