When an MLB closer blows a postseason game the way Mason Miller did for the San Diego Padres in Game 2 against the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday, the best thing to do is to get him back on the mound as soon as possible.
However, the right-hander was not available for a win-or-go-home Game 3 in their National League Division Series against the Brewers. Miller informed the club hours before first pitch that he wasn’t going to be available after his wife went into labor. That left manager Craig Stammen looking for a backup plan in an elimination game.
That backup plan just happened to be Michael King, who started Game 2 just two days earlier.
Michael King Extends San Diego Padres Season With Game 3 Save
Leading 4-3 heading into the top of the eighth inning, Stammen called on King for a six-out save. He delivered. Two days after his start in Milwaukee, King needed 40 pitches, allowing one hit, walking two and striking out one, to force a Game 4 on Wednesday night in Southern California.
“I have bullets in my arm that I don’t want to save,” King said, per AJ Cassavell of MLB.com. “You’re in an elimination game, you want everybody to be all-in on it. Not just me included. We have a bunch of dogs down there that are all-in.”
That would have been the perfect scenario for Stammen to bring Miller back to atone for blowing Game 2. However, not only did Stammen not have Miller, but he was also without Adtian Morejon, who was out with what his manager called left-shoulder fatigue.
“It was hard to map out from the beginning,” Stammen said, per Cassavell. “Just because both of those guys are unavailable, and we’d relied on them so much throughout the year. It was a chance for the other guys to pick those two up.”
Instead, Stammen called on King with the season on the line and the 31-year-old, who entertained offers from other clubs last winter in free agency before re-signing with San Diego, delivered.
San Diego Padres Live To See Another Day
Coming home down 2-0 to Milwaukee, with a few breaks here and there in the first two games, the Padres could have come home up 2-0, or at least tied 1-1. Instead, they have their backs against the wall, needing to win both games at home to force a series-deciding Game 5 on Friday in Milwaukee. To get there, they will need veteran right-hander Walker Buehler to deliver on Wednesday night.
“At the end of the day, it was win or go home, right?” said Manny Machado, per Cassavell. “Back up against the wall. We had nothing to lose but go out there and play our baseball like we’ve been doing all year.”
Machado had an RBI single in the second inning to put the Padres up 2-0. The Brewers rallied to tie the game, but Jake Cronenworth had a solo home run in the fifth inning for a 3-2 lead, and Miguel Andujar reached on an error in the sixth inning, which plated Xandr Bogaerts with what turned out to be the game-winning run.
King coming in and closing the door gives San Diego at least one more game, and Miller is expected back for Game 4 Wednesday, another win-or-go-home game for the Padres.
San Diego Padres Right-Hander Michael King Drops Honest Quote After Game 3 Save Against Brewers