Mason Miller has the San Diego Padres franchise record for consecutive scoreless innings, and he could set another one.
San Diego Padres closer Mason Miller set a franchise record for consecutive scoreless innings yesterday, and he’s hoping his scoreless ninth in the Padres 6-4 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks will quiet the talk about records.
“Big load off, for sure -- I think we can stop talking about it now,” Miller said after he stretched his scoreless streak to 34-2/3 in an article written by AJ Cassavell of MLB.com. “Just keep pitching, see how long we can go.”
The approach is sound, but the talk about records isn’t going away. According to Cassavell, Miller is now within shouting distance of Gregg Olson’s all-time record for consecutive scoreless innings, which is 41. Olson set the record back in 1989-1990, with the streak extending over two seasons.
Miller is currently eighth on the all-time list, so he’d have to pass a lot of relievers to get there. Sooner or later he’ll have a bad outing or actually give up a run, but it feels like a bad idea to bet against him right now.
The Padres closer chose instead to focus on the franchise record, as he mentioned some father people he passed.
“There’s a lot of great pitchers on [that list],” Miller said. “Passing Randy [Jones], getting to talk about him, and ultimately passing Cla [Meredith], too -- it’s just reflecting back on Padres history. Now I’m a part of that. I think that’s pretty awesome.”
Meredith got in on the celebration as well, posting a congratulatory video on his social media. He filmed it while holding the ball he used to set the record, and it included a quip that added some humor to the situation.
“I’ve got to say thank you," Meredith said. "This is the most relevant I’ve been in 20 years, since my streak.”
Miller is getting plenty of regular opportunities to extend the streak, too, thanks to a Padres offense that’s been all about coming from behind. It happened on Thursday in the series finale against the Colorado Rockies at Coors field, and it happened in Mexico City yesterday, too.
It’s easy to say that no one saw this coming for Miller, but that’s not quite true. He had an inside reputation around the league when the Padres acquired him from the Athletics last season at the trade deadline, and third baseman Manny Machado chimed in when he was asked about Miller’s sudden rise in the world of relievers.
“When we traded for him,” he said. “I don’t know about records. But I knew who he is.”