Mason Miller’s First Loss Came In Most Unlikely Way Possible In A Key Game Against LA

We knew Mason Miller would finally lose a game for the San Diego Padres. It barely seemed possible for the first six weeks of the season, but when it did happen it was a shocker for all kinds of reasons. 

It came on a throwing error, as Miller had pinch runner Alex Call caught in no man’s land after picking him off in the top of the ninth in the Padres 5-4 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The wide throw clanked off the glove of startled first baseman Ty France, and just like that Call was on third with just one out, and Andy Pages brought Call home with a sacrifice fly to provide the winning run. 

“Not a feeling that I'm used to having, I guess,” Miller said in a followup piece written by AJ Cassavell of MLB.com. “But it's pretty cut and dry: Bad throw, and you see the consequences.

I just let it speed up on me a little bit and yanked it. I probably threw it a little harder than I should've, too. Obviously I want it back. But it is what it is.”

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was well aware of how lucky his team was, as he stated in his reaction to the play. 

“Alex took a chance, and we got a break there,” said Roberts. “But it was good that we got a break, and we took advantage of it.”

The result was a loss that evened the series at 1-1 and knocked the Padres out of first place as they dropped back to a half-game behind LA. It was especially tough given the way it happened, despite the inevitability of Miller’s first loss. 

It’s always amazing when this sort of thing happens to relievers like Miller. He obviously has dominant stuff, often beyond that, and in a lot of his save situations the only thing that matters is the hitter at the plate. In this case it probably wouldn’t have mattered if Call had stolen the base, but relievers often seem to have a mental checklist that comes into play, and that’s when disastrous pickoff throws like this tend to happen. 

France thought he should have had it, and you can make a small case for that possibility. He was trying to stay close to the base because of how badly the Padres had Call nailed, but it would have taken an acrobatic play for him to corral the pickoff throw. 

Miller knows the lesson that comes with this, and while it doesn’t change the pain in the moment, he’s the kind of player who will take that lesson forward. 

“It's the little things,” Miller said, citing a cliche that was nonetheless appropriate. “The little things win games. They also lose games, too. We saw that tonight.”