Padres’ Mason Miller delivers ridiculous dominance not seen in 120 years

San Diego Padres right-handed reliever Mason Miller continued a historically imposing stretch, reaching 30 2/3 scoreless innings with Thursday’s 5-2 win against the Seattle Mariners at Petco Park. The streak moved him past Randy Jones (30 innings in May 1980) for second place in franchise history, with only Cla Meredith ahead at 33 2/3 innings (July-September 2006).

Miller struck out the side on just 14 pitches in the ninth inning to earn his sixth save of the season and preserve the victory. With that outing, he remained at the center of one of the most overpowering early-season runs by a reliever in recent MLB history.

Across 30 plate appearances against Miller this season, only Luis Arraez has managed a hit. He has compiled 23 strikeouts in those appearances, a 76.7% strikeout rate that is the highest by any pitcher through his first nine appearances in a season in the last 120 years. Entering Thursday, only one of his 20 strikeouts had come via a swinging strike, with the latest three coming on called third strikes.

The win was San Diego’s eighth straight and 11th in 12 games, improving its record to 12 wins in the last 14 contests. The Padres also completed a perfect 7-0 second homestand at Petco Park.

Offensively, Fernando Tatis Jr. helped break the game open in the second inning with a two-run single that completed the rally. He reached base three times in the game and has been hitting at a .429 clip over the homestand, although he has not hit a home run this season, his longest such drought to start a year. San Diego capitalized on Luis Castillo, who allowed four runs (three earned) in the second inning.

Walker Buehler secured his first win with San Diego, throwing six innings while allowing two runs on five hits with seven strikeouts and one walk. He carried a two-hit shutout into the sixth inning before the Mariners rallied for both runs. Reliever Bradgley Rodriguez ran into some trouble before Adrian Morejon stepped in and helped the Padres regain control of the inning.

The post Padres’ Mason Miller delivers ridiculous dominance not seen in 120 years appeared first on ClutchPoints.