REPORT: VETERAN P WADE MILEY MENTIONED IN SUPPLYING DRUGS TO LATE TYLER SKAGGS
Late Los Angeles Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs had been abusing prescription drugs since at least 2013, with a former teammate serving as one of his sources, The Athletic reported Thursday.
In a lengthy article about a wrongful death civil lawsuit filed against the Angels by the Skaggs family, The Athletic reported that Skaggs’ former agent said in a deposition that the pitcher received some drugs from Wade Miley, a teammate with the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2013 season.
Miley, 38, recently was signed by the Cincinnati Reds.
Ryan Hamill, who was Skaggs’ agent, testified he discussed Skaggs’ drug use with both the pitcher and his family.
“He came clean,” Hamill testified. “He said he had been using — I believe it was Percocets — and he said he got them through Wade Miley.”
The Hamill deposition was included in “hundreds of pages of testimony” that The Athletic said were posted, apparently erroneously, on the California court’s online portal last week.
Skaggs, 27, died of a drug overdose while the Angels were on a road trip to play the Texas Rangers in 2019. Eric Kay, the team’s former communications director, was sentenced to 22 years in prison in 2022 after being found guilty of distribution of a controlled substance resulting in death and conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances.
The Skaggs family is suing the Angels, contending high-level team officials, as well as other employees, knew Kay was a drug user and should have known he was Skaggs’ source.
The family is seeking $210 million in damages. The Angels have filed a motion seeking a summary judgment and to have the claim dismissed.
Miley also was mentioned in Kay’s criminal case, but he was never charged with a crime.
Both Hamill and Miley, through his agent, declined to comment to The Athletic.
The Reds signed left-hander Miley on June 4 after starting pitcher Hunter Greene landed on the injured list.
Miley had not pitched in the majors since April 16, 2024, because of ulnar collateral ligament surgery.
With the Reds, he has appeared in two games. He got the win in Cincinnati’s 7-4 game against the Cleveland Guardians on Monday. He started and threw five innings, giving up three runs on five hits and four walks.
Miley began his career with the Diamondbacks in 2011, then later played with the Boston Red Sox (2015). Seattle Mariners (2016), Baltimore Orioles (2016-17), Milwaukee Brewers (2018), Houston Astros (2019), Reds (2020-21), Chicago Cubs (2022) and Brewers (2023-24).
BREWERS RHP AARON CIVALE REQUESTS TRADE AFTER SHIFT TO BULLPEN
Right-hander Aaron Civale was bumped from the Milwaukee Brewers’ rotation, and now he wants to be traded from the club.
Civale’s spot in the rotation was taken by top prospect Jacob Misiorowski, who was summoned from Triple-A Nashville to make his MLB debut against the visiting St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday. Milwaukee also features Freddy Peralta, rookie Chad Patrick, Quinn Priester and Jose Quintana in its starting rotation.
Shortly after the team informed Civale that he was moving to the bullpen, his agent, Jack Toffey, made the request to Brewers general manager Matt Arnold.
“The conversation was very professional,” Toffey said Thursday, per The Athletic. “I just very respectfully said that Aaron would really like an opportunity to continue his career as a starter. He’s going to be a free agent at the end of the year.”
Toffey said Civale is merely examining his options.
“Aaron is not angry or banging his fist on the table,” Toffey said. “But it’s a little confusing because he did not pitch his way out of the rotation whatsoever. It’s more of a subjective choice the organization is making.”
Brewers manager Pat Murphy had a different take about Civale’s move to the bullpen.
“He’s not happy,” Murphy said, per the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
“Throughout his career, he’s been a successful starter in the major leagues, he helped us last year. He’s been fine. … Even though he’s never done it, we think he can handle that. You look at Civale’s third-time-around numbers, he might be better suited on this year’s team right now, to disrupt everything else less, if he can be in that long relief role.”
Civale, who turned 30 on Thursday, has recorded all 122 of his regular-season appearances as a starter. He did come out of the bullpen in a Game 1 loss of the 2024 National League wild-card series against the New York Mets, throwing three scoreless innings.
Civale is 1-2 with a 4.91 ERA in five starts this season with Milwaukee.
He is 40-37 with a 4.06 ERA in his career with Cleveland (2019-23), the Tampa Bay Rays (2023-24) and Brewers, who traded for him last July.
“He’s a guy that was a very helpful part to our team last year,” Arnold said of Civale. “We traded for him, he’s done a nice job here coming back off of injury. He’s done nothing wrong here, certainly, and I think that he’ll continue to get chances.
“And things can change. We used how many, 17, different starters last year? There’s always something that can happen where he can slide back into that role and he’s proven he can do that at a high level in the major leagues and especially here.
“Right now, we think it’s the right move for him and the team.”
MLB ROUNDUP: CRAMP ENDS BREWERS PROSPECT’S NO-HIT BID IN DEBUT
In his major league debut, highly touted Brewers prospect Jacob Misiorowski tossed five hitless innings before exiting with a leg cramp to pace Milwaukee to a 6-0 victory over the visiting St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday in the opener of a four-game series.
The hard-throwing 23-year-old right-hander struck out five before appearing to stumble on his third pitch of the sixth inning to Victor Scott II. Nick Mears relieved and finished the walk to Scott, the fourth charged to Misiorowski in an 81-pitch outing. The Brewers announced later that Misiorowski left with right calf and quad cramping.
Misiorowski (1-0) topped 100 mph on four of his six pitches to Lars Nootbaar to open the game, hitting 102.2 mph on his fifth pitch, and fanned Pedro Pages on a 101.1 mph four-seam fastball to end the fifth. Jackson Chourio hit a two-run homer to cap a five-run fifth against Sonny Gray (7-2) that put the Brewers up 6-0. Sal Frelick, who went 3-for-4 and scored twice, hit a two-run single before Chourio’s homer.
Gray, who was 4-0 in his previous six starts, allowed six runs on eight hits in 4 1/3 innings. He struck out four and walked one. The Cardinals did not get a hit until Willson Contreras’ leadoff single off Aaron Ashby in the seventh. Ashby covered the final three innings for his first save.
Mets 4, Nationals 3
Starting pitcher Kodai Senga sustained a hamstring strain in a victory over Washington to complete a three-game series sweep. Senga will spend time on the injured list and undergo an MRI on Friday.
The starter allowed only two baserunners and zero runs in 5-2/3 innings before exiting, lowering his ERA to an MLB-best 1.47. Jeff McNeil’s three-run home run in the first and Brandon Nimmo’s solo shot in the fifth gave the Mets a 4-0 advantage.
Washington’s bats were silent until the ninth inning. Mets reliever Ryne Stanek gave up three consecutive singles and a run before Edwin Diaz replaced him. Diaz surrendered a walk and a single, and threw a wild pitch to allow two more runs before coaxing a pair of groundouts to pick up his 15th save of the season.
Yankees 1, Royals 0
Pablo Reyes scored an unearned run from second base on a wild play in the eighth inning following a pitching duel in New York’s victory over the host Royals.
The Yankees’ Will Warren and Royals’ Seth Lugo each pitched 5 2/3 innings and the game was still scoreless in the eighth, when Paul Goldschmidt sent a liner off the glove of Vinnie Pasquantino, who tried to get the out at first but was late. Reyes, meanwhile, stopped between third and home, then again broke for the plate, where Freddy Fermin was unable to grab the low throw from Lucas Erceg, who was covering first. Erceg was charged with an error.
New York managed just five hits against four Royals pitchers, yet it was enough for the victory to claim all six games this season versus Kansas City. The Royals sit in a 10-19 rut that has dropped them below .500 for the first time since April 27.
Rangers 16, Twins 3
Texas hit six home runs, including a trio of three-run home runs, in a trouncing of Minnesota. The Rangers matched the season-high run total they set on Tuesday in the first game of their series against the Twins.
Wyatt Langford, Adolis Garcia and Sam Haggerty hit the three-run shots, while Jake Burger, Josh Smith and Evan Carter added solo homers. Texas had 16 hits, including six hits and four home runs off Minnesota starter Bailey Ober.
A five-run second inning allowed Texas to quickly pull away, and a six-run sixth inning to grow the Rangers’ lead to 13-1 was further assurance. Minnesota had a solid eight hits, but went 3-13 with runners in scoring position and failed to dig themselves out of an early five-run hole.
Rockies 8, Giants 7
Orlando Arcia hit a two-run, walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth to lift Colorado over San Francisco and snap a five-game Rockies skid. The loss snapped the Giants’ six-game winning streak in one-run games.
San Francisco has had a penchant for tight games this year, with a major-league-leading 30 one-run games, including today’s contest. The Giants quickly built a four-run lead in the second inning on the back of a sacrifice fly and a pair of RBI singles.
Colorado notched two runs in the fourth to narrow the lead, but San Francisco swiftly responded with a three-run Dominic Smith homer in the fifth. After falling down 7-2, the Rockies scored six unanswered runs, highlighted by a three-run ninth inning and capped by Arcia’s decisive base hit.
Tigers 4, Orioles 1
Tarik Skubal pitched seven scoreless innings as Detroit won at Baltimore in the decisive game of a three-game set.
Dillon Dingler and Parker Meadows drilled fourth-inning home runs, with Meadows’ three-run shot the big blow. Skubal (7-2) struck out six and allowed three singles and two walks. Will Vest handled the ninth for his 12th save.
Baltimore’s Dylan Carlson (three hits) led off the eighth with a home run. Dean Kremer (5-7) permitted four runs on five hits in seven innings.
Cubs 3, Pirates 2
Pete Crow-Armstrong belted a two-run homer and Jameson Taillon recorded his fifth win in as many starts as host Chicago earned a victory over Pittsburgh.
Taillon (7-3), who began his career with Pittsburgh, allowed two runs on four hits and two walks with seven strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings. Seiya Suzuki added a solo shot for the Cubs, who won the opener of their 10-game homestand despite mustering just four hits.
Adam Frazier sliced an RBI double in the seventh among the four hits for the Pirates, who lost for just the second time in seven games. Pittsburgh starter Andrew Heaney (3-5) yielded three runs on four hits with seven strikeouts and no walks in six innings.
Astros 4, White Sox 3
Framber Valdez recorded a season-high 12 strikeouts while leading Houston to a victory over visiting Chicago.
Isaac Paredes slugged his club-leading 15th homer and Jose Altuve added a two-run double as the Astros claimed the decisive game of the three-game series. Valdez (7-4) won his fifth consecutive start, firing five innings of two-run ball while permitting seven hits and a walk.
Chicago’s Miguel Vargas finished 3-for-4 with two doubles, a triple, a walk and two runs. Edgar Quero had three hits, including a pair of RBI singles. Davis Martin (2-7) Martin allowed four runs on seven hits and two walks with five strikeouts over six innings.
–Field Level Media
