Miller’s sixth save secures split of series
NEW YORK — Mason Miller retired Aaron Judge with a runner on for his first four-out save as the Oakland Athletics beat the New York Yankees 3-1 Thursday night for a fourgame split.
Nick Allen and Tyler Nevin homered in the third inning off Nestor Cortes (1-2), and Alex Wood (1-2) escaped bases-loaded trouble in the first and fourth innings.
New York was 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position, stranded 11 runners and outhit Oakland 11-6.
Miller, a 25-year-old right-hander, relieved T.J. McFarland with a runner on first in the eighth and struck out Jose Trevino on a 101.3 mph fastball.
He got Oswaldo Cabrera to take a called third strike starting the ninth, allowed a hard-hit infield single to Anthony Volpe, then struck out Juan Soto on a 101.9 mph pitch. After striking out against Miller for the second time this week, Soto slammed his bat.
“To see somebody get on base in the ninth, it got a little loud so the adrenaline started pumping a little bit, but I quickly quieted it down with a strikeout,” Miller said.
Judge flied to right on a slider as Miller remained perfect in six save chances.
“Obviously it’s a pretty special fastball, but he’s got feel for his slider,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “So he’s not just 80, here it comes. He mixes it up. It’s100-plus miles an hour and it looks like that up close. They, obviously, look like they’ve got a good one at the back end.”
Miller needed 17 pitches to get the four outs, averaging 100.8 mph with eight fastballs. He struck out six of the eight batters he faced in the series and has fanned 23 in 11 1⁄3 innings this season.
“The kid is impressive, but he’s got a good slider to go with it and he showed that tonight a couple of times,” Oakland manager Mark Kotsay said.
Gelof put on IL: A’s second baseman Zack Gelof was put on the 10-day injured list Thursday because of a strained left oblique.
Gelof was a late scratch from Wednesday’s game after feeling pain during his pregame routine and an MRI showed the low-grade strain. The IL move was retroactive to Wednesday.