SAN DIEGO -- Mason Miller breezed through the eighth inning of Game 2 of the National League Division Series on Sunday, retiring the Nos. 2, 3 and 4 hitters in the Milwaukee Brewers' lineup on 12 pitches. The trouble came when the San Diego Padres' star closer came back out for the ninth, an inning undone by three walks and a game-winning single by Jackson Chourio.
Padres manager Craig Stammen, whose team faces a 2-0 hole in the best-of-five series, believes there might be something to that.
"I think we've seen some of that from Mason, and it mostly happens in the appearances where he goes more than one inning," Stammen said before a Monday workout from Petco Park, ahead of Tuesday's Game 3. "I think that's definitely something strategy-wise that we were very comfortable with going into the game, but something going forward that we may have to adjust as the playoffs go."
Miller finished the regular season with a 1.67 ERA and an NL-leading 38 saves, but he allowed six runs (five earned) on nine hits and six walks in 12⅔ innings in September. And though three of those runs came while essentially pitching in mop-up duty during the regular-season finale, two others occurred when Miller came back out for a second inning earlier in the month.
Stammen said Miller is still learning how to "keep the same adrenaline in one inning and bringing it to the second inning," a potentially crucial development for a Padres team expected to rely heavily on Miller and Adrian Morejon in the postseason.
Stammen seems more worried about that than pitch-tipping.
Miller's disastrous ninth inning, during which Christian Yelich, Sal Frelick and Gary Sanchez drew walks while seeing a combined 17 pitches and not swinging at one, prompted online speculation that he was unknowingly letting opposing hitters know when a fastball or slider was coming through subtle patterns.
Sanchez said he did not know of Miller tipping his pitches.
"And if he was, I wasn't aware of it," Sanchez added. "I think even if he was and we were aware of it, hitting 104 is not easy by any means."
Side-by-side still shots posted on social media appeared to show Miller's hand placement in his glove from the set position being slightly different based on whether he was throwing a fastball or a slider, something a runner on second base might notice and relay to the hitter. The Brewers got a runner on second base early, when Yelich drew a one-out walk and succeeded on an attempted steal.
Stammen did not indicate one way or another, but he also dismissed the thought.
"We've got a crew of people that are dedicated to that every single day," Stammen said. "That is their sole job. We're well aware of what's going on with our pitchers, well aware of what's going on with the Brewers' pitchers and how they do things. It's part of our daily acumen. The internet can go crazy and take things farther than they need to go. We feel good about our process within that situation."