Padres leave Mason Miller out to dry as Jackson Chourio steals NLDS Game 2 for Brewers

The Padres asked Mason Miller to collect the final six outs of Game 2. Unfortunately, he could only get five. That missing sixth out may end up haunting San Diego all winter.

Miller returned for the ninth inning with a 3-2 lead and the Padres three outs away from evening the NLDS. By the time Jackson Chourio’s two-run single reached the outfield, Milwaukee had stolen a 4-3 victory and shoved San Diego into a 2-0 series hole.

Miller finished with three walks, two earned runs and only 21 strikes among his 40 pitches. The guy was cooked, and it was obvious in those final pitches.

It’s not up for debate whether Miller should have started the ninth. Postseason baseball regularly demands more from the best relievers, and nobody should fault Craig Stammen for wanting his most overpowering arm to protect a one-run lead.

Craig Stammen waited too long for Mason Miller to find the strike zone

Miller’s command disappeared, and Stammen watched it happen in real time. Three walks usually tell us the pitcher on the mound no longer has his best stuff. With Miller, whose dominance depends on attacking hitters, the warning could not have been clearer.

Stammen kept waiting for Miller to muscle his way out of trouble because that’s what elite closers are supposed to do. Chourio never gave him the chance. His walk-off single turned a lead into a loss and an aggressive bullpen plan into the defining mistake of Game 2.

That does not absolve Miller. He’s the Padres’ closer and he threw 19 balls in the biggest appearance of his Padres tenure. Three free passes in the ninth inning are unacceptable, whether they come on pitch No. 10 or pitch No. 40.

But the manager’s job is to recognize when the weapon has stopped working. Stammen never made that adjustment.

Adrián Morejón had pitched two full innings the night before, so using him again was unlikely. Stammen could have handed the eighth to Jason Adam or David Morgan and saved Miller for the ninth. Instead, he went straight to his best reliever and asked him for a six-out save.

We can understand the gamble. The Brewers grind through at-bats, Miller hadn’t pitched in Game 1, and Monday’s off day meant there was no reason to preserve him for Tuesday’s Game 3 at Petco Park. Trusting Miller with the eighth was aggressive October managing. Sending him back out for the ninth was defensible, too.

Leaving him in after three walks…maybe not so much. The Padres built a deep bullpen precisely so one reliever wouldn’t have to drown alone. Once Miller lost the zone, the Padres still had choices. Stammen simply waited until Milwaukee made the choice for him.

The Padres offense left Miller no room to wobble

Blaming the entire loss on one arm would be convenient. It would also let the Padres lineup escape much too easily.

Milwaukee committed two errors, and San Diego still managed only five hits and three runs. A larger cushion could have changed the plan in the late innings. But they never created one.

Now the Padres must win three straight games to keep their season alive. The first two will come at Petco Park, but any comeback still requires a return trip to Milwaukee for Game 5. There is no remaining margin for another silent stretch from the lineup or another manager waiting one batter too long.

Miller failed to finish Game 2. Stammen failed to rescue him. The offense failed to make either failure survivable.

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