By Field Level Media
Oct 07 (Field Level Media) – San Diego’s All-Star closer Mason Miller was placed on the postseason paternity list on Tuesday with the host Padres facing elimination in Game 3 against the Milwaukee Brewers in their National League Division Series.
The Padres found a way to keep their season going, beating the Brewers 4-3 as right-hander Michael King registered a six-out save after throwing 72 pitches as their Game 2 starter on Sunday. King gave up one hit and walked two to record the save.
Major League Baseball announced the move, which allows Miller to be away from the team for a minimum of one day and a maximum of three days. Miller’s wife, Jordan, went into labor on Tuesday afternoon to deliver their first child, the Padres said before the game.
Left-hander Wandy Peralta will be on San Diego’s active roster until he is replaced by Miller.
Manager Craig Stammen said Miller had communicated with the team in the early afternoon, telling them he was monitoring the situation to determine if he would be available to the team.
“He decided that he needed to stay with his wife,” Stammen said after the game. “We knew sometime in the afternoon, but we wanted to give him enough time in case the baby comes really quick or it goes the other way, and he could come to the game. We gave him the opportunity. We waited until an hour and a half, an hour before the game time to make the final call.”
Left-hander Adrian Morejon, a likely candidate to fill the closer role for San Diego, was held out due to a shoulder issue. Stammen said Morejon had played catch and threw off the mound earlier in the day.
Miller, 28, is 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA, three walks, and four strikeouts over 2 2/3 innings in two appearances this postseason.
He took the loss in Game 2 despite needing only 12 pitches to retire host Milwaukee’s Nos. 2, 3 and 4 hitters in the eighth inning. Miller, who routinely pitches only one inning per game, came back out for the ninth, walked three batters and gave up Jackson Chourio’s game-winning single with two outs, resulting in a 4-3 setback.
Game 4 is Wednesday night in San Diego. Game 5, if necessary, is Friday in Milwaukee.
Miller was 5-2 in the regular season with a 1.67 ERA and tied for the National League with 38 saves and 57 games finished. He had 26 walks and 129 strikeouts in 70 innings over 66 games and was selected an All-Star for the second time, and the first with the Padres.
Peralta, 35, was 3-3 in 65 regular-season games (five starts) with a 3.61 ERA, 23 walks and 50 strikeouts in 77 1/3 innings.
The Padres also announced on Tuesday that first baseman Gavin Sheets was out of the starting lineup for Game 3 due to neck stiffness. He did not play in the game.
San Diego also placed starting pitcher Walker Buehler on the postseason paternity list on Saturday. He was replaced by right-hander Randy Vasquez on the active roster before returning Monday.
Buehler was 9-6 with a 4.63 ERA in 32 starts in his first season with the Padres. A two-time World Series champion with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Buehler did not pitch in the NL wild-card sweep against the Chicago Cubs. Game 1 of the NLDS would have been his turn in the starting rotation.
(–Field Level Media)
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