{"id":485602,"date":"2026-10-05T09:26:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T09:26:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/485602\/"},"modified":"2026-10-05T09:26:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T09:26:12","slug":"mason-millers-uncharacteristic-9th-inning-struggles-put-padres-on-the-verge-of-playoff-elimination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/485602\/","title":{"rendered":"Mason Miller’s uncharacteristic 9th-inning struggles put Padres on the verge of playoff elimination"},"content":{"rendered":"

MILWAUKEE (AP) \u2014 Mason Miller’s<\/a> emergence as the best closer in the major leagues helped get San Diego into the playoffs.<\/p>\n

His uncharacteristic troubles in the ninth inning Sunday have the Padres<\/a> on the brink of elimination.<\/p>\n

The two-time All-Star closer struggled with control, loading the bases in the ninth inning against Milwaukee with the first three walks of his postseason career as he tried to complete a six-out save.<\/p>\n

Jackson Chourio<\/a> followed with a walk-off, two-run single with two outs that dealt the Padres a 4-3 loss. San Diego went home in a 2-0 NL Division Series deficit heading into Game 3 Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t do my job today, so instead of being here with a win and a series tie, we\u2019re in a hole,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n

Miller\u2019s unsuccessful attempt at his first six-out save since 2024 came one day after Adrian Morejon<\/a> gave up a tiebreaking homer to William Contreras<\/a> in the seventh inning of a 3-2 defeat.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo really good games that didn\u2019t go our way,\u201d first baseman Ty France<\/a> said. \u201cJust go back home and play each game like it\u2019s our last.\u201d<\/p>\n

San Diego\u2019s inability to protect two-run leads in each of these first two games is a notable turn of events for a team that could shorten games much of the season because of its deep corps of relief pitchers.<\/p>\n

The hard-throwing Miller led the bullpen brigade by collecting 38 saves and posting a 1.67 ERA while striking out 129 batters over 70 innings in the regular season. He threw 34 2\/3 straight scoreless innings at one point in the season.<\/p>\n

Miller hadn\u2019t been as dominant lately. He had an 0.79 ERA at the end of July before posting a 3.33 ERA from Aug. 1 through the end of the regular season. Even so, Miller\u2019s presence has given the Padres a sense of security they can maintain any late-inning lead.<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t happen Sunday.<\/p>\n

Miller retired the side in order with a pair of strikeouts in the eighth inning and got the leadoff batter in the ninth with San Diego ahead 3-2. <\/p>\n

That’s when the problems started.<\/p>\n

Christian Yelich<\/a> walked on five pitches and stole second. Sal Frelick<\/a> walked on a 3-2 pitch. After Miller retired Andrew Vaughn<\/a> on a fly to center, Gary Sanchez<\/a> walked while taking six straight pitches.<\/p>\n

Chourio fell behind 1-2 in the count, fouled off Miller’s fasted pitch of the day at 103.5 mph, then took a low slider before lining a 101.3 mph offering just past past second baseman Jake Cronenworth<\/a>\u2019s attempt for a diving backhand stop and went into center field.<\/p>\n

Although Miller threw 40 pitches \u2014 his most since 2023 \u2014 he said that didn\u2019t impact him and that he had felt fine. He topped 100 mph with 18 pitches.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not the first save I\u2019ve blown and it probably won\u2019t be the last one I blow, either,\u201d Miller said. \u201cIt\u2019s part of the job. Failure in my role is really hard to move past, I guess, when you look at it, because most of the time, when you fail, you lose. Other spots, you get another chance. That\u2019s part of it. I\u2019m going to come back and be prepared to pitch Tuesday and do my best to help the team win.\u201d<\/p>\n

San Diego remains confident it came rebound, If the Padres do, Miller likely would play a major role.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been unbelievable ever since he put on a Padre uniform,\u201d pitcher Michael King<\/a> said. \u201cI know everybody in this locker room wants him with the ball in a big situation \u2014 and still does.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

See AP\u2019s full MLB<\/a> coverage here<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MILWAUKEE (AP) \u2014 Mason Miller’s emergence as the best closer in the major leagues helped get San Diego…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":485603,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[47256,5887,61012,3834,7867,29290,74,76,75,2611,96848,136534],"class_list":["post-485602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-adrian-morejon","tag-jackson-chourio","tag-jake-cronenworth","tag-major-league-baseball","tag-mason-miller","tag-michael-king","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news","tag-san-diego-padres","tag-ty-france","tag-william-contreras"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485602","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=485602"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485602\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/485603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=485602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=485602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=485602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}