Miller’s run of dominance continues as Friars outlast Angels for series win

ANAHEIM — Another three up, another three down. Mason Miller, the sport’s most dominant reliever, secured his eighth save of the campaign after a 1-2-3 ninth inning to give the Padres their fifth consecutive series victory Sunday against the Angels.

The closer picked up two strikeouts in his outing, now having punched out 27 of 38 hitters faced — a staggering 71.1% strikeout clip, the highest by a pitcher in his first 11 appearances of a season since at least 1900.

He’s also coming up on some club history of his own. 

Miller extended his scoreless streak to an eye-popping 32 2/3 innings, moving him within one shy of Cla Meredith’s franchise record 33 2/3 scoreless innings, set in 2006.

Mason Miller locks down the save and extends his scoreless streak to 32.2 innings 🔥 pic.twitter.com/6xwL8OU0YF

— MLB (@MLB) April 19, 2026

This was the vision when Padres GM A.J. Preller acquired the flame-throwing righty at last year’s trade deadline. Just do enough offensively to hand Miller the ball for the contests’ final three outs. 

The Padres offense did just that.

Xander Bogaerts’ RBI single in the fourth and Bryce Johnson’s run-scoring knock in the seventh were all the Friars needed to down the Halos for a second straight day.

Aside from Miller, right-hander Michael King held L.A.’s lineup scoreless through five frames despite not having the sharpest command in the rubber match.

“It was a grind from the start,” King said postgame. “I had zero sinker command. It was a grind. I wish I was able to go further. But happy to at least be with the team at a place where we can win the game,” he added.

King surrendered one hit and walked four while striking out six.

Among a mix of four different relievers used by manager Craig Stammen, Bradgley Rodriguez had a standout performance out of the bullpen. The young righty stranded what would have been the game-tying run at second in the seventh after coming into the game with runners at second and third with one out. 

He also made quick work of Angels hitters in the eighth, striking out Jorge Soler and Jo Adell to close the frame.

“I came in there and got the job done,” Rodriguez said on his performance through interpreter Jorge Merlos. “And [Miller] sealed the victory there.”

The Padres, now winners of 13 of their last 15 ballgames, are receiving contributions from all over the place and Stammen’s roster creativity can perhaps be thanked for that. 

“Another team win,” Stammen said after Sunday’s 2-1 win. “We’re just getting contributions from everybody in the whole entire roster — from guys in the bullpen, the guys on the bench that are in the starting lineup. We’re just moving pieces around, and they’re all coming through, making us all look really good, that we’re making good decisions. We’ve got good players, and they’re doing the right things.”

Up next, San Diego will head to Denver for a three-game set against the Colorado Rockies, whom they swept at Petco Park on April 12.