Double the innings, double the dominance: Miller goes 2 frames for 1st time since '24

SAN DIEGO -- At the very least, Mason Miller always asks.

Every time he completes an inning, if there’s another inning to be pitched, Miller wants to pitch it. He makes his feelings known when he comes off the field.

His manager, Craig Stammen, usually isn’t so keen. Miller is the best closer in baseball right now. The Padres have designs on a deep run into October. They need him fresh down the stretch.

But on Tuesday night? With the Padres already deep into their bullpen? With Miller having only needed 11 pitches to get through the ninth inning against Atlanta? At the start of a crucial stretch, which will see San Diego play five straight series against fellow National League contenders?

This was the right time for it, Stammen decided.

And Miller delivered -- as he usually does.

For the first time since he was traded to San Diego last summer, Miller completed two innings -- setting up a dramatic 7-6 victory on Manny Machado’s walk-off single in the bottom of the 10th. Miller faced six hitters and retired all six, stranding the automatic runner in the 10th.

“He’s probably the best weapon that you could think of in that situation with a guy on second and nobody out,” Stammen said. “Because he can get so much swing and miss and get the strikeout when he needs it.”

The Padres have been walking a delicate tightrope with Miller all season. He’s been as dominant as almost any closer ever, having recorded an NL-leading 21 saves with a 0.79 ERA and a whopping 66 strikeouts in 34 innings.

Then again, the goal isn’t necessarily to have a dominant Miller in mid-June. They want him pitching like this all season. So they’ve stayed away from using him for multiple innings.

“We want to preserve him,” Stammen said. “Tonight, he had such a quick first inning, and that helps you make that decision a little easier. Then, him always wanting to take the ball -- he would pitch two innings every night if he could. He’d pitch three innings if he could. But we’ve got to be smart.”

But this was one the Padres needed -- the kind of win that can feel like it’s worth more than just one win in the standings. (Or more than one loss if it goes the other way.) The Braves led, 4-0. The Padres rallied to grab a 5-4 lead. The Braves took the lead right back. Fernando Tatis Jr. tied it with his third home run of the season, a solo shot in the bottom of the seventh.

Meanwhile, the Padres were burning through their bullpen, after Griffin Canning recorded just two outs -- the “bulk guy” unable to cover much bulk. The ‘pen picked up the slack, and the game was tied at six headed to the ninth.

Miller pitched a 1-2-3 inning, striking out two. And afterward, it was his manager approaching him, rather than the other way around.

“I’ve been asking for it,” Miller said with a wry grin. “Sometimes I’ve meant it, sometimes I haven’t. I think Craig and I both knew at the end of a short inning, I was ready to go back out and give us a chance to win.”

It would become the first time Miller has completed two full innings in a game since Sept. 6, 2024, when he was still with the A’s. In the 10th, Austin Riley sent a deep fly ball that instantly advanced the runner to third base. But Miller got the strikeout he needed, spinning a pristine slider past Rowdy Tellez -- at the knees, on the outside corner.

When he got Eli White to bounce to shortstop, Miller’s job was done. He’ll get a bit of a breather now, too. Presumably, Miller won’t be available for Wednesday’s finale. The Padres are off Thursday. Then, in theory, Miller would be fresh for Friday’s series opener against the Dodgers.

Meanwhile, it took all of one pitch in the bottom of the 10th inning to make a winner out of Miller. Machado laced a walk-off single up the middle, and the Padres had their second straight victory over Atlanta.

“[Miller] closed that door,” said Machado. “We were confident if the game was tied up, it was going to give us two chances to win that ballgame, whether it was in the ninth or in the 10th.”

Miller doesn’t always get that opportunity. But he did on Tuesday -- and made the most of it.