It seems that Andrew Miller is experiencing some pain in his right knee .

Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said Miller was pulled after he appeared to wince after making a play at first base in the third inning. Miller has had minor right-knee pain through the years, and Gonzalez said they didn't want to risk anything.

''We didn't want to take a chance and send him back out there,'' Gonzalez said.

I can think of a lot reasons for not wanting to send him back out there -- one being, trying to win the game.

Mike Berardino reports that his knee problem isn't anything new .

Miller, in his postgame remarks with the media, didn't mention this until asked directly about his right knee. Turns out he's been diagnosed with tendinitis in the knee, which plagues him "off and on" and first started bothering him about a year ago.

The Tigers gave him an MRI on the knee after last season and the Marlins and Tigers discussed the issue at length before completing the December trade for Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis.

"It doesn't affect my pitching, I don't think," Miller said. "That's by no means an excuse for tonight."

Still, Miller said catcher Mike Rabelo, who knows him well from their Detroit days, told Gonzalez and the Marlins training staff he believed the knee was bothering Miller on the mound.

Maybe it is the case that is right knee is causing some of his control problems, though I find it unlikely that it is the major cause since by all reports his control has been iffy for more than a season and one month.  In 2006 when he was first called up to the majors he averaged about a walk an inning.

But it does beg the question: What the heck is he doing up in the majors?  There is a place where players go to work through injuries -- it's called minor league rehab.

Aside: Fredi can say what he wants and read from the official team press release, and maybe it's best that he does, but Waecther was warming up long before Miller had to cover first base in the third.

If Miller is truly battling with tendinitis in the right knee, and I have no reason to believe he isn't, maybe, just maybe, he ought to be working through it in Carolina or Albuquerque.  There has to be a healthier and more consistent option available.

As it stands right now, the Marlins are planning on breaking up the one-two of Scott Olsen and Mark Hendrickson .

If Olsen doesn't experience soreness in the next few days, rookie right-hander Burke Badenhop will make his next start Thursday, which will give him six days of rest.

Left-hander Andrew Miller will start Tuesday, followed by Olsen on Wednesday. Gonzalez said he wants to avoid starting Miller and Badenhop back-to-back to give the bullpen a break. Both have struggled this season, while Olsen has pitched extremely well.

The word around the campfire is that Oslen feels fine.  So that means that Ollie will be going on his normal pitching schedule.  Badenhop and Hendrickson will get an extra day of rest.

Breaking up the two lefties may help the bullpen but then again, it may have little effect.  When Olsen and Hendrickson pitch it is not like the bullpen gets the night off.  It is just that they don't have to pitch as many innings in the game.  And as Nolasco continues to return to form he should eventually, consistently, pitch deeper in his starts.

So it breaks down: Miller (bullpen workout), Olsen (bullpen a couple of innings), Badenhop (bullpen workout), Hendrickson (bullpen a few innings), Nolasco (who knows, initially more stress on the bullpen but probably will ease over time.)

I guess the big change is that the middle relievers will no longer be working 2 days off and 3 days on.  Instead they will be working 1 day on, 1 day off,  1 day on, 1 day off, 1 day on.  The work will be more consistent, which may be good, but it will really interfere with their sunflower seed spitting contest.

If you have watched any of Andrew Miller's starts you know that he is becoming a close personal friend of Mark Wiley.  Or at least one would think so as much time as they spend talking during one of his outings .

Gonzalez also joked that the Marlins may get a memo from Commissioner Bud Selig regarding the frequent mound visits from pitching coach Mark Wiley.

"I'm seeing him a lot this year, and it's usually not a good thing," Miller said of his regular consultations with Wiley. "Sometimes he comes out and says, 'How do we want to attack the hitter?' Other times he comes out to give you a breather and other times it may be, 'I see you're doing this,' or, 'You're not doing this.' But more often, it's how we are going to attack the next guy."

Nothing like a pop quiz during the middle of the game to see if you were paying attention during the pitchers meeting earlier in the day.

Miller finally got his first win in last night's game but it was far from a masterpiece.  Andrew allowed 11 base runners in 5 innings with the Braves posting a .391 BAA.  The good news is that he was able to work out of the jams, but the bad news is that he kept putting himself in those jams.

Living on the edge is a dangerous place to be and I couldn't tell whether he was starting to come around, albeit slightly, or if he was just lucky.  Time will tell.

But he did get his first win as a Marlin, so we should be happy about that.