TORONTO — Spencer Miles walked down the dugout stairs after completing the first inning of his MLB career and, understandably, blacked out. That’s when he was confronted by Blue Jays teammate Max Scherzer.
“You’ll remember that name forever,” Scherzer, the 18-year veteran, told Miles.
“Max Muncy,” said Scherzer.
Miles had struck out Muncy, the Athletics’ No. 7 hitter, in the top half of the 11th inning and then worked around a walk to end the frame and keep the game tied.
Muncy, it turns out, was the first strikeout victim of Miles’s career. Of course, the 25-year-old can be forgiven for losing sight of that. There were plenty of firsts for him on Saturday at Rogers Centre.
There was his first big-league appearance, first strikeout, the first inning under his belt and, perhaps most importantly, his first win. In the bottom of the 11th, Ernie Clement sent a hard single to left field to give the Blue Jays an 8-7 victory and their second-straight walk-off to open the campaign.
“That’s back-to-back beer showers for the boys in there,” Clement said. “(Kazuma) Okamoto and then Spence. Hopefully many more to come.”
The Spencer Miles backstory is an interesting tale. To recap: The right-hander was selected in the fourth round of the 2022 draft by the San Francisco Giants, but multiple surgeries limited him to just 14.2 professional innings. The Blue Jays selected him in December’s Rule 5 Draft and his combination of stuff and demeanour allowed him to make the club’s opening-day roster.
Blue Jays manager John Schneider had spoken of trying to get Miles a soft landing spot in the form of a low-leverage situation. However, things unfolded differently. Every Blue Jays reliever except Jeff Hoffman — who was only going to be used in a save situation — had already pitched on Saturday and that paved the way for Miles to take the mound in front of a boisterous 40,268 crowd.
“I’m sure he’s dreamt about his major-league debut,” said Schneider. “Probably didn’t look like that.”
Miles’s second pitch of the inning produced a comebacker that he snared and alertly fired to shortstop Andres Gimenez, who retired the lead runner. Then came the Muncy at-bat, which featured two 98 m.p.h. sinkers and an effective slider that produced the punchout.
Those offerings were a major factor in the Blue Jays’ unorthodox decision to carry a Rule 5 rookie on a team with championship intentions. As well, Schneider said he’s been impressed with how Miles carries himself.
The manager closely observed how the right-hander reacted when he arrived on the mound for Saturday’s pressure-cooker situation.
“You’re looking for his heartbeat,” said Schneider. “You’re looking for him to have a little bit of self and game awareness. Who’s at second base? Are they going to run? Are they not going to run? He did a good job of varying his times and his looks, too. So, he kind of checked all the boxes.”
After a walk, a mound visit from pitching coach Pete Walker and a Denzel Clarke fly out, Miles was amped up and strolling off the mound while receiving a thunderous applause.
“Getting thrown into the fire like that for your debut is not easy,” said Blue Jays starter Dylan Cease, who struck out 12 earlier on Saturday. “You couldn’t have asked for anything more.”
“That was a big test,” added Schneider.
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The manager had planned to use Miles in the 12th inning if the game was extended and so the right-hander did his best to compose himself following his chat with Scherzer. He sat down, sipped some Gatorade, closed his eyes and prayed. Miles had a feeling something was going to happen and found a spot on the dugout bench to watch Clement’s at-bat.
“I saw a line drive,” said Miles. “I started jumping up and down. Of course, I ran out.”
Following the on-field frenzy and clubhouse beer shower, Miles stood in front of a camera and a crowd of reporters and tried to describe his emotions.
“I don’t really have words for it,” he said. “It’s surreal.”
Wearing a wide smile, Miles shared that a bunch of friends and family were in attendance. That group included his parents, who made the trek from his hometown of Columbia, Missouri.
Miles said that he kept the ball from his Muncy strikeout and plans to gift it to his father, who’ll store the memorabilia in his office.
Rest assured that years from now, whenever Miles sees that baseball, he’ll remember who he struck out to earn it.