Nick Piecoro

azcentral sports

BALTIMORE – The harmless fly ball fell into center fielder Mitch Haniger’s glove, and Diamondbacks right-hander Shelby Miller strode confidently off the mound at Camden Yards on Friday night, six scoreless in the books.

Given that it came only two days after right-hander Zack Greinke had registered a quality start of his own, it could have been viewed as the sort of performance that would finally provide a glimmer of optimism for the top of the club’s 2017 rotation.

Instead, Miller’s outing came on the heels of news that Greinke had not accompanied the team to the east coast, returning instead to Phoenix to have his shoulder examined. That left the Diamondbacks, who invested $206.5 million in Greinke’s right arm, to hold their breath.

Turns out they can exhale, at least a little: Manager Chip Hale said after the Diamondbacks’ 3-2 loss in 12 innings to the Baltimore Orioles that Greinke underwent an MRI that revealed no structural damage.

“He’s fine,” Hale said. “Just a little swelling. We’ll talk about his start. Probably not going to be able to start against the Nationals. We’ll have to decide who that’s going to be.”

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Hale said Greinke experienced stiffness in his right shoulder after his start on Wednesday night in San Diego but was feeling better by Friday.

There were no obvious signs Greinke was in discomfort against the Padres, whom he held to two runs in six innings. He was grunting as he released pitches, as he usually does, his velocity was in its normal range and he did not leave early, throwing 107 pitches.

Greinke was lined up to face the Nationals on Tuesday evening, with his final start scheduled for Oct. 2. It’s likely that both of those outings are in jeopardy.

Even if he does return, the shoulder issues raise a red flag for a team that guaranteed him a record $34.4 million annual salary for the following five seasons, particularly given that Greinke will turn 33 next month and is in the midst of one of the worst seasons of his career.

He has a 4.37 ERA and has seen his home-run rate nearly double from where it was the past three years, and he’s recently begun issuing more walks.

Greinke has never spent time on the disabled list with arm problems. He spent six weeks on the disabled list earlier this season with a left oblique strain.

Miller had a couple of scares of his own on Friday but managed to navigate around them. The Orioles put two men on with one out in the first for slugger Chris Davis, who lofted a high drive to deep right field. Off the bat, it looked like it an easy home run, the likes of which Davis has hit many of during his time in Baltimore.

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Right fielder Yasmany Tomas’ initial reaction only confirmed this: He turned and drifted back the way outfielders often do when they know their effort is in vain. But Tomas suddenly turned like a wind vane in a breeze and left his feet, making a catch that appeared to save a three-run homer.

Then in the sixth, Miller found his way out of a second-and-third, one-out jam in the sixth by getting Pedro Alvarez to pop out and Jonathan Schoop to fly to center.

But there was little turbulence in between as Miller logged his first scoreless outing of the year in his 19th start, lowering his ERA to 6.47.

“This is a huge boost for me against a tough team, a tough lineup,” Miller said. “Obviously it’s been a rough year and I haven’t thrown near as good as I would have liked to. There’s good games in there, and to get a game like this is huge and just build off of this and just trying to end 2016 strong.”

Saturday's game

Diamondbacks at Orioles

When: 4:05 p.m.

Where: Camden Yards, Baltimore.

Pitchers: Diamondbacks LHP Robbie Ray (8-13, 4.66) vs. Orioles LHP Wade Miley (8-13, 5.65).

TV/Radio: FSAZ/KTAR-AM (620), KSUN-AM (1400).

Ray retired the first 14 batters he faced on Sunday against the Dodgers but wound up giving up five earned runs in 5 2/3 innings, taking a no-decision in a game the Diamondbacks won 10-9 in extra innings. … Ray continues to rack up strikeouts but, in some ways, is largely ineffective; he has just one quality start in his past five, a stretch in which he has a 6.58 ERA. … Miley, the former Diamondbacks lefty, is having a rough season, particularly since joining the Orioles in a trade deadline deal with the Mariners. Miley has a 7.55 ERA in his past nine starts. … He posted solid results in his most recent outing, giving up just one hit and one walk in four scoreless innings, but he had to leave early with a back issue. He is expected to be ready to make his start on Saturday.

Coming up

Sunday: At Baltimore, 10:35 a.m., Diamondbacks RHP Braden Shipley (4-4, 5.49) vs. Orioles TBA.

Monday: At Washington, 4:05 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Archie Bradley (7-9, 5.02) vs. Nationals RHP Tanner Roark (15-9, 2.70).

Tuesday: At Washington, 4:05 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Zack Greinke (13-7, 4.37) vs. Nationals RHP Max Scherzer (18-7, 2.82).

Reach Piecoro at (602) 444-8680 or nick.piecoro@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on Twitter @nickpiecoro.