NEW YORK (AP) — The legend of Mason Miller continues to grow.
The A’s closer needed 17 pitches to get the four outs, three by strikeout, averaging 100.8 mph with eight fastballs to slam the door on the New York Yankees 3-1 on Thursday at Yankee Stadium. The A’s split the four-game series, with Miller also earning a save in the opener.
Thursday, Miller got Aaron Judge to fly out to right on a slider with a runner on for his first four-out save.
“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, who is perfect in six save chances, struck out six of eight batters in the series and has fanned 23 in 11 1/3 innings this season.
The A’s, who conclude a 10-game East Coast trip with three games at Baltimore, got an early lead when 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 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.
“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. “He’s really embraced this role. He loves it and you can see just the energy when he comes into the game.”
Miller pitched his eighth consecutive scoreless outing. He has retired 31 of 38 hitters in that span with 22 outs on strikeouts.
“He’s pretty good,” Trevino said.
Oakland scored three runs or fewer for the seventh straight game and 17th time this season. The A’s also homered for the 10th straight game.
Trevino homered off the screen attached to the right field foul pole in the second, one pitch after Gleyber Torres was picked off. The 325-foot drive was the shortest fence-clearing homer in the major leagues this season.
Allen, son-in-law of Boone’s older brother Bret, hit his first homer since Aug. 25 to tie the score in the third. Nevin, whose father Phil Boone’s bench coach from 2018-21, homered into the right field short porch for a 3-1 lead.
Wood allowed one run and eight hits, lowering his ERA from 7.89 to 6.59. Cortes allowed three runs and five hits in seven innings.
— Before the game the A’s placed second baseman Zack Gelof 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.
“He went through his pregame routine and we decided to take a cautious side and I think if it was into September, he probably would have played, though, if you asked him but being that it’s April, I’m glad we’re erring on the side of caution,” Kotsay said before Oakland’s series finale against the New York Yankees.
Gelof is hitting .196 with two homers and two RBIs in 24 games. His two-run, ninth-inning homer Monday off Victor González lifted the A’s to a 2-0 win.
Gelof started in Oakland’s first 24 games. Abraham Toro and rookie Max Schuemann likely will split time at second base until the former first-round pick returns.
“We’re hopeful that it’s a short period of time as opposed to a long period of time,” Kotsay said. “Catching it early will hopefully limit the amount of days on the IL. We all know what he means to the club.”
As a rookie last season, Gelof batted .267 with 14 homers and 32 RBIs in 69 games after making his big league debut on July 14.
Infielder Darrell Hernaiz was recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas. Hernaiz made Oakland’s opening day roster and was 3 for 29 before he was optioned to the Aviators on April 17.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
