SAN DIEGO — The Padres traded for Mason Miller because he can throw 103 mph with a wipeout slider. A bonus: Evidently, he can pick it at first base, too.
In the biggest moment of the Padres’ biggest game yet this season, Miller’s scoop of Xander Bogaerts’ low throw made all the difference in a tense 2-1 Padres victory over the Dodgers at Petco Park. With that result Friday night, the National League West is again tied at the top with 33 games to play.
The Dodgers secured the head-to-head tiebreaker with their sweep in Los Angeles last weekend, so they have the advantage if the division ends the regular season tied. But this was quite a response from the Padres.
They small-balled their way to an early lead and got six excellent innings from starter Yu Darvish. From there, their super-bullpen was given an October-type test — and passed it, though not without a few bumps along the way.
“It was huge,” said Fernando Tatis Jr. “Everybody knew what happened last weekend. We were trying to get the first one. Now we’re aiming for the last two.”
All the while, a sold-out Petco Park rocked. And sure, it’s been rocking all summer long. But it reached another level on Friday night.
“It was a little amped up for tonight — and I love it,” said left fielder Gavin Sheets. “It’s a playoff atmosphere. Obviously, we knew the importance of the game. Everybody knew the importance of the game. To get them on their feet all night long — it was just a really good baseball game on both sides.”
The decisive moment came in the top of the eighth inning, after Miller walked two of the first three hitters he faced. Shohei Ohtani loomed on deck. Dalton Rushing hit a sharp grounder to first base that Luis Arraez picked cleanly, before going to Bogaerts at second.
Covering first, Miller got his foot set on the bag and made the pick to complete the double play, preventing the tying run from scoring. Rushing was initially ruled safe, but the call was overturned on replay.
“It’s an adrenaline rush for sure,” Miller said. “You’d like to not be in a situation like that if you don’t have to be.”
Miller couldn’t recall having played first base at any level since Little League — “There’s a reason why I’m a pitcher now,” he joked. But, hey, the Padres brought him on board to help in their push for a first NL West title since 2006. Apparently, it’s by any means possible.
Darvish, meanwhile, was brilliant, allowing just one hit across six innings — a third-inning home run that Alex Freeland tucked inside the right-field foul pole. He allowed very little hard contact and struck out five, becoming the Padres’ first starter 39 or older to earn a win since Greg Maddux in 2008.
“He was so good,” said Tatis. “He was so nasty. He moved the ball really well. … He has done that all his life. So nothing new.”
Darvish was efficient, too, needing only 74 pitches to complete six innings, leaving manager Mike Shildt with a decision. This was the sharpest Darvish has looked all season. But the top spot in the NL West is on the line, and the Padres have built the league’s most fearsome stable of high-leverage relievers. If ever there was a time to use them, this was it.
Jason Adam worked a 1-2-3 seventh. Miller worked in and out of trouble in the eighth. Robert Suarez did the same in the ninth, nailing down his Major League-leading 34th save.
“Tonight it was more of an old-fashioned recipe,” Shildt said. “Starter going six innings — Darvish was fantastic. Productive outs, some good situational hitting … good defense. The bullpen clearly brought it home. It was a really good baseball game.”
After falling behind on Freeland’s first career homer, the Padres scored both of their runs during a fourth inning that featured a sacrifice bunt, a sacrifice fly and Manny Machado’s RBI single.
The Dodgers didn’t truly threaten again until the eighth. With Ohtani on deck, left-hander Adrian Morejon began to get loose in the bullpen. Rushing was almost certainly destined to be Miller’s last batter.
When replays showed Rushing to be out at first base, Petco Park burst into a spontaneous “Beat L.A.” chant, which segued directly into Blink 182’s “All The Small Things.” This was August? It sure felt like October.
“As a player,” Tatis said, “that is the atmosphere that you want.”
