Mason Miller Goes Seven No-Hit Innings in Loss to Mariners

Mason Miller and A's Manager Mark Kotsay talk about the decision to take him out after seven

Mason Miller went seven no-hit innings against the Seattle Mariners in his third big-league start. The A's bullpen gave up two in the eighth inning, and the A's lost 2-1. The decisive blows were a solo homer to AJ Pollock, and an rbi double off the bat of Jarred Kelenic. 

Facing Mason was another Miller, Bryce, making his MLB debut for the Mariners. B. Miller had a perfect game going through 5.1 innings until Tony Kemp singled to break it up. He advanced to second on a wild pitch. With two out in the inning, Esteury Ruiz doubled home Kemp to give the A's a 1-0 lead. Ruiz is now 13-for-30 (.433) with runners in scoring position this season. 

After throwing his 100th pitch to complete the seventh inning, Mark Kotsay said the factors that go into pulling Mason with a no-hitter going were his future, that he hasn't had a game where he has pitched over five innings, and that he's thrown 28 minor league innings. "His future is way more important than one game. This kid gave everything he had tonight. At 100 pitches, he's not gonna finish the game. I'm not gonna let him go 120, 130. With 100 being the most pitches he's thrown for us I think all year, or probably in the last four years, I was confident that it was the right time to take that kid out of the game." 

Miller did issue four walks in his outing with one in the second, one in the third, and then two in the fourth. Since the first inning in his previous start in Anaheim, Miller has allowed just one hit over his last ten innings. "Miller definitely built off of last game. You could tell when he came off the mound there was a confidence about him. You could tell there was a calmness and I think that carried over in tonight's start for sure."

Mason hadn't completed five innings in either of his first two starts, but he has one of the most electric arms on this Oakland squad. Kotsay said of his progression from his first start to this third start "He's mixing his pitches. I think that first start he came out, and even in the first inning in Anaheim there was more fastball usage. I think tonight you saw the cutter come into play a lot more. You saw the slider mixed in. That's the maturation process we're looking for from a young starter. Not just relying on the plus fastball, but making pitches, keeping hitters off-balance."

Even with the seven no-hit innings, Miller was looking at ways he could improve moving forward. 

"Honestly, I feel like I've gotten away from what I was doing really well in the minor leagues, which was filling it up. I feel like I've been a little less on my strike percentage than I'd like, so I think getting back to that is going to be a major key for me. It's definitely encouraging to see me still getting guys out with maybe not my best stuff."

Mason was also asked about the conversation he and Mark Kotsay had when it was time to take him out of the game.

"To be honest, I didn't even know if he was going to let me go out for the seventh. I hadn't even [gone six], so I was happy to go out for the seventh, and I think that was my best inning. It's definitely disappointing to not be able to finish it, but that's kind of on me for having those four walks and not being in the zone as much as I should have been early in the game. I'd rather throw many more games this season than lay it on the line for a game in the beginning of May."