The San Diego Padres won its series opener against the Colorado Rockies in extra innings, but Mason Miller dominated the ninth inning like he typically does.
The San Diego Padres won its series opener over the Colorado Rockies 7-3 on shortstop Xander Bogaerts’ walk-off grand slam in the 12th inning.
Padres right-handed starter Randy Vasquez tossed another gem for San Diego, going 5.2 innings and allowing one run on seven hits with eight strikeouts. He has been the best pitcher in the starting rotation and now has a 1.02 ERA and 1.08 WHIP with 19 strikeouts through 17.2 innings.
The Rockies used right-hander Jimmy Herget as an opener before turning things over to right-hander Chase Dollander, who threw 4.1 innings of one-run ball on four hits, a walk and three strikeouts.
Colorado had leads three different times throughout the game, but every time the Rockies took the lead, the Padres answered back in the bottom half of the inning. While San Diego’s bats have been cold to start the season, primarily amongst its star players, the team has scored five or more runs in each of the last five games.
You know who hasn’t been cold this season, or even dating back to last season? Padres flamethrowing closer Mason Miller. Miller has turned heads since debuting for the Athletics in 2023. He was incredible in two-and-a-half seasons with the A’s but he has been absolutely lights-out since being traded to the Padres at the trade deadline last season.
In 22 appearances (23.1 innings) as a Padre, Miller allowed just two runs on seven hits and 10 walks with 45 strikeouts, good for a 0.77 ERA and 0.73 WHIP. He wasn’t the every day closer since righty Robert Suarez was still on the team, but with him on the Atlanta Braves, the job is Miller’s and there’s nobody better in Major League Baseball.
In six appearances (6.1 innings) this season, Miller is 4-for-4 in save opportunities and has allowed just one hit and one walk with 16 strikeouts. Yes, he has a 16-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio with 22.7 strikeouts per nine innings. He hasn’t allowed a run in 27.2 innings dating back to his second appearance with the team in 2025.
He struck out the side against the Rockies and wanted to go back out for the 10th inning, but manager Craig Stammen is being cautious with his star closer.
“We have long-term goals, and we have long-term goals for him personally in mind,” Stammen said following the 7-3 win on Thursday. “Hopefully that allows him to be available as this series goes on. … We’ve got to be smart with how we use him.”
Miller likely won’t pitch in the second game against the Rockies as it would be his third straight night of work, and the Padres are hoping they win big enough that bringing in Miller isn’t even a thought.
It will be Rockies right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano against Padres righty Walker Buehler on Friday and both have had vastly different starts to the season. Sugano has thrown 10.2 innings and allowed two runs (both solo home runs) and three walks with nine strikeouts. Buehler has thrown just 6.2 innings through two starts and allowed seven runs on eight hits and five walks with seven strikeouts.
Padres starter German Marquez had a couple rough starts to start the year before having a nice outing in his third start – perhaps that energy will rub off on Buehler.
First pitch is at 6:40 p.m. PST on MLB.TV.