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The Gateway Grizzlies are pleased to announce that Deylen Miley has been chosen as the Frontier League Pitcher of the Week for the week ending August 18, marking his second Pitcher of the Week award this year after also taking home the weekly hardware on July 15.
The 26-year old from Bryan, Ohio made his 17th start of the season against the Windy City ThunderBolts on Saturday in Crestwood, and quickly made history, striking out four batters in the first two innings to give him a new Grizzlies single-season record of 136, passing the mark of 135 set by his rotation mate Collin Sullivan last year.
But then he proceeded to take things to the next level. Already possessing five strikeouts, and having surrendered a leadoff triple in the bottom of the fourth, the right-hander followed by striking out an unprecedented 10 consecutive batters, which is believed to be a Frontier League record, and a feat which only three pitchers have ever accomplished at the MLB level- Hall-of-Famer Tom Seaver in 1970, and both Aaron Nola and Corbin Burnes in 2021.
The final strikeout of that streak in the seventh inning also gave him 15 for the game, breaking Derek Blacksher’s previous Grizzlies club record for strikeouts in a single contest of 14 set back in 2008. He eventually added one more strikeout in the frame, bringing his record-setting total to 16 over seven, two-hit, shutout innings, helping lead the Grizzlies to the win over Windy City.
Miley continues to lead the Frontier League in strikeouts with 148 in just 95 innings, a total which now is the sixth-highest single-season mark by any pitcher in league history. He also enters this week ranking sixth among qualifying pitchers in the Frontier League with a 3.03 ERA, and tied for fourth in the circuit with eight wins, while his .174 opposing batting average is the lowest of any pitcher to have thrown at least 50 innings.
In addition, Miley’s award is the third weekly honor that a Grizzlie has received this season, with Peter Zimmermann winning the league’s Player of the Week Award for the week ending July 7.
With a magic number of 4 to clinch their second-straight appearance in the Frontier League postseason, the Grizzlies return to action tomorrow, Tuesday, August 20, kicking off a three-game series against the Florence Y’alls at home. Sullivan will be on the mound for Gateway in the series opener against Florence left-hander Jonaiker Villalobos, with first pitch set for 6:30 p.m. CT at Grizzlies Ballpark.
