SAN DIEGO – The Padres’ Mason Miller was dealing, and unfortunately, it wasn’t one, two, three strikes and you’re out.
Instead, there were scratchy moments in the final stages of the Padres’ 4-2 win over the Cardinals on Saturday at Petco Park.
Miller notched his 12th save to lead the Majors, but only after he left the bases loaded after, yep, four strikeouts.
Cardinals pinch-hitter Yohel Pozo whiffed on a ball in the dirt for what seemed like the last out. But the wild pitch skipped past Freddy Fermin, Pozo reached first and Miller had to reach back one more time.
Miller, who had command issues with his triple-digit fastball, needed four ninth-inning strikeouts to preserve the win. His final one came when JJ Wetherholt froze on a 101.8 mph fastball, which delivered a team-wide sigh of relief.
The last Padre to collect four strikeouts in an inning? Manager Craig Stammen.
“I heard that there was a guy that did it, and he wasn’t as good as Mason Miller,’’ Stammen said. “Thanks for bringing up good memories.”
Miller’s time was eventful as he collected his second four-out save of the season (the last one came on April 1) and the 11th of his career. It was a tightrope act until the end as Miller wasn’t sharp, but he cut through the static for the win.
“Probably not a stat you are looking to get,’’ Miller said of his four-strikeout inning. “You got to get out of it.
“Just not having good command coming out, not making adjustments fast enough. Then when you put guys in take mode, it gets a lot harder. Just not getting ahead, not putting myself in position to succeed.’’
Stammen summoned Miller in the eighth with two outs to face Jordan Walker, who grounded out. It’s a chore to get an out, sit down, and get three more for those accustomed to working the final three outs.
“It’s not the easiest thing to do, but it’s certainly not an excuse, either,’’ Miller said. “You have to prepare yourself and go back out there. I throw a first-pitch strike and it looks like the inning is off to a good start.’’
Instead it almost went off the rails, before Miller got back on track.
“You don’t want to put the tying run on base, and I did more than that,’’ Miller said. “We see what happens when you don’t get ahead of guys.’’
Miller’s cred is to be aggressive in the zone.
“It is that simple, but it is way easier said than done,’’ he said. “If we were able to say, ‘I want to throw this fastball right in this spot every single time,’ pitching would be a lot easier than it is.’’
Nothing has come easily for the Padres of late, which made Saturday’s conquest significant.
The Padres finally said bonjour to a run when Ty France smacked a blast over the left-center-field fence in the fifth, snapping a 21 1/3 scoreless innings stretch. It was also the team’s first hit in 9 1/3 innings.
It was France’s fourth homer on the year as he feasted on a 95.9 mph sinker, which traveled a Statcast-projected 405 feet.
Things continued to turn sunny for San Diego as it seized a 3-1 lead later in the frame.
Sung-Mun Song walked and Fermin singled, and they advanced on a passed ball. With two outs, Fernando Tatis Jr.'s bloop double to right scored two and allowed the struggling Padres star to exhale.
“I got it off the end of the bat,’’ Tatis said. “It definitely makes you feel better. It was well-received.
“Especially how rough it has been for us lately as a team. Just grinding, grinding – you can’t escape baseball. You just have to go out there for your teammates and find a way to win a baseball game.’’
Both teams added a run in the eighth, with Manny Machado smoking his sixth homer of the season and the 200th of his Padres career.
Starter Randy Vásquez nearly navigated the fourth unscathed after Walker and Nolan Gorman opened with singles. Masyn Winn rolled into a double play, but Nathan Church contributed a hustle double to score Walker and put the Padres in a 1-0 hole.
After working five stellar innings, Vásquez was lifted, surrendering a run on six hits, with six strikeouts and no walks.
He gave way to four Padres relievers, with the last one producing the rare four-strikeout frame.