Athletics' Mason Miller: Annihilates Houston, nabs save
Rotowire
Miller notched his 10th save of the season Saturday, striking out the side in a 4-1 win over the Astros.
Miller was coming off his worst appearance of the season his last time out against the Rockies, but he had no such trouble in this one. The flamethrower needed 15 pitches to dispose of the Astros in order, topping out at 102.2 mph with his fastball. Miller has struck out multiple batters in 14 of 18 outings this season.
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Athletics' Mason Miller: Rings up ninth save
Rotowire
Miller recorded his ninth save in Tuesday's win over the Rockies, striking out the side in a perfect ninth inning.
Miller mowed through the trio of Jordan Beck, Charlie Blackmon and Ezequiel Tovar on 16 pitches, retiring each on swinging strikes to close out the one-run win. It was Miller's first save opportunity since April 30, as well as his 15th straight scoreless appearance. The flamethrowing right-hander hasn't allowed so much as a single since April 25 as well, and his trio of strikeouts Tuesday pushed his K/9 and swinging strikeout rate figures to an astounding 18.1 and 23.7 percent, respectively, across 20.1 innings.
Miller, who'd pitched just once in the previous 11 games entering Tuesday's extra-inning loss to the Astros, threw 14 fastballs of at least 100.5 mph out of his 29 pitches during his two scoreless innings, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports.
Miller's arm was clearly fresh, and manager Mark Kotsay deployed his closer for multiple innings in the tie game as a result. Miller rewarded him by recording five strikeouts -- including of the noteworthy trio of Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez and Jeremy Pena -- over his 29 pitches. The elite velocity helped Miller to his 13th straight scoreless outing and extended his career-high scoreless streak to 17.1 innings. The improved - but still inconsistent - Athletics have afforded Miller just eight save chances among his 14 appearances, but he's converted each and now boasts a minuscule 0.98 ERA and 0.65 WHIP alongside a 38:5 K:BB across 18.1 innings.
Athletics' Mason Miller: Stellar in non-save scenario
Rotowire
Miller fired two perfect innings during which he recorded four strikeouts in the first game of a doubleheader against the Rangers on Wednesday.
Miller had last taken the hill May 1, so manager Mark Kotsay opted to give his closer some much-needed work with the Athletics up by five runs. The extended layoff didn't seem to faze Miller in the least, as he located 24 of 32 pitches for strikes in a relatively efficient showing. The hard-throwing right-hander lowered his ERA and WHIP to 1.10 and 0.67, respectively, and with the Athletics much more competitive than expected thus far, Miller's prospects for save opportunities over the long term are brighter than when the season began, despite the recent stretch of inactivity.
