'I love that this guy is on our team': Miller pushes scoreless streak to 28 2/3 innings

SAN DIEGO -- Good luck scoring against Mason Miller these days. Heck, good luck even making contact.

Miller was again at his dominant best on Friday night, never mind the fact that he was pitching for the third time in as many days. The Padres relief ace struck out all three Rockies he faced in the ninth inning -- before Gavin Sheets’ walk-off home run sent San Diego to a 5-2 victory at Petco Park, its second straight via walk-off.

With the scoreless frame, Miller extended his overall scoreless streak to 28 2/3 innings, dating back to last August. It’s the longest active streak in baseball and five shy of Cla Meredith’s franchise record. Only Meredith (33 2/3) and Randy Jones (30) have posted longer scoreless streaks as Padres.

Beyond that, Miller is striking out just about everyone he faces. This season 24 hitters have come to the plate. He’s punched out 19 of them. That 79.2% strikeout rate is the highest by a pitcher in his first seven appearances of a season since at least 1900.

Across the past three days, Miller struck out two in Pittsburgh, three more in Thursday’s opener, then three on Friday night -- using his slider to get TJ Rumfield, then a triple-digit fastball to put away Willi Castro and Brenton Doyle.

It was the fourth time this season Miller has made an appearance in which he faced at least three hitters and struck all of them out. That’s the most by any pitcher during his team’s first 14 games of a season since at least 1900.

"I love that that guy is on our team,” said Sheets, moments after his walk-off. “That’s it.”