The San Diego Padres gave Mason Miller a four-run cushion last night, but the results were a little different.
The San Diego Padres gave closer Mason Miller a four-run lead when he came on in the ninth against the Chicago Cubs, but the results were anything but the usual. Miller has a wild night as he labored to get through the inning, and by the time it was done he’d allowed two runs and his franchise record-setting streak of 34-2/3 innings was history, although the Padres did manage to hang on to get a 9-7 win.
Manager Craig Stammen lauded Mason for his amazing run, and he also emphasized some of the unusual events that contributed to it coming to an end.
“Amazing opportunity for me to watch him go in every single night and dominate the way he has,” manager Craig Stammen said in a writeup by Cole Bradley of MLB.com. “Tonight a few things had to go a little crazy for him to give up a run. He was still able to keep his composure even with bases loaded, nobody out, and get out of that and give us a win. In the end, his job is to finish the game with us in the win column and he did that again tonight.”
The mayhem started with the first batter. Miller got Matt Shaw to hit a soft tapper up the third base line that appeared to roll just foul, and substitute third baseman Ty France, who’d entered the game to replace the injured Manny Machado in the seventh inning, and France watched the ball roll foul.
Until it wasn’t. Home plate umpire Dan Wenzel somehow ruled the ball fair, and that started a Cubs rally.
“We trust that our players are watching the ball and Ty’s picking it up at the right time,” Stammen said. “Thought it was still moving and then obviously we saw the replay on the [scoreboard]. From that angle, it made it look like it was a foul ball.”
“It stopped rolling, I thought it was foul, but [Merzel and third-base umpire Shane Livensparger] said otherwise,” France said. “They said they both had it fair and it’s a non-reviewable play.”
Two singles later the bases were loaded with no one out, and a groundout by Nico Hoerner broke the scoreless streak, with the second run coming home on a wild pitch. Miller then got Michael Busch to ground out, and he struck out Alex Bergman to end the game.
Miller’s reaction was both sanguine and level-headed, which has been a key element of the streak throughout. As Bradley pointed out, he’s allowed just four runs in 37-2/3 innings since the Padres acquired him at the trade deadline last year, and he’s struck out 73 of the 133 hitters he’s faced.
“The beauty of it is you get to start another one,” Miller said. “Kind of reflecting -- I guess now is a little too soon -- but probably tonight and tomorrow, reflect on it and come in tomorrow ready to start a new one.”