Oakland A’s closer Mason Miller sets All-Star record with 103.6 mph pitch, earns win in ASG debut
Mason Miller continues to make history.
The Oakland Athletics’ hard-throwing rookie closer unleashed his four-seam fastball for the world to see on Tuesday night, and he didn’t disappoint. Pitching for the American League team at the All-Star Game in Arlington, Texas, Miller hit 103.6 mph on his first pitch to Trea Turner, breaking the record for fastest recorded pitch in All-Star history.
Aroldis Chapman had held the record for the fastest pitch thrown in an All-Star Game during the pitch-tracking era (since 2008) when he hit 103.4 on the radar gun in 2015 with the Reds.
Miller earned the victory on the mound as the American League defeated the National League 5-3. The final All-Star in the A’s Oakland franchise history joins Mark Mulder (2004) and Vida Blue (1971) as the only Athletics to be named winning pitchers in the All-Star game.
In his perfect top half of the fifth inning, Miller induced a one-pitch flyout from the Diamondbacks’ Ketel Marte, struck out Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani on four pitches and got the Phillies’ Turner looking on a perfectly located slider.
Ohtani hit a three-run home run in his previous at-bat against Boston’s Tanner Houck.
“I wasn’t giving him one up, that’s for sure,” Miller told Tom Verducci of Fox Sports during an in-game interview. “I think I got the second strike, then I got one that might’ve been down a little bit, but I got to the back-foot slider.”
Miller’s perfect inning kept the score tied at 3-3, and the A.L. went ahead in the bottom of the fifth, when Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran hit a two-run home run off the Reds’ Hunter Greene.
“It’s hard to not enjoy that, with this crowd and these players here,” Miller said. “It’s what you dream of.”
Multiple other players with Bay Area connections appeared in the All-Star Game. Here’s how they fared:
Logan Webb, San Francisco Giants
It was an All-Star debut to forget for the Giants’ sinker-balling ace. Webb inherited a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning and immediately got into trouble, allowing a single to former Cal star Marcus Semien of the Texas Rangers and walking Fremont native Steven Kwan of the Cleveland Guardians.
After getting Baltimore’s Gunnar Henderson to ground out, Webb surrendered a two-run double to Juan Soto of the New York Yankees. Webb got Soto’s teammate Aaron Judge to ground out, but Cleveland’s David Fry singled home Soto to tie the game.
Webb struck out Cleveland’s Jose Ramirez to end the inning.
Heliot Ramos, San Francisco Giants
Ramos replaced Philadelphia’s Bryce Harper in the National League cleanup spot during the sixth inning. He struck out on four pitches against Texas’ Kirby Yates in the top of the eighth and recorded one put-out in right field.
Steven Kwan, Cleveland Guardians
The pride of Fremont’s Washington High had a productive day in his first career All-Star appearance. Kwan started the game in left field and popped out to Turner in his first at-bat but walked in the third and scored on Soto’s double.
Kwan was replaced by Detroit’s Riley Greene prior to the fifth inning.
Corbin Burnes, Baltimore Orioles
Burnes, who attended Saint Mary’s College in Moraga, started the game for the American League and pitched a scoreless first inning despite walking Ohtani and conceding a double to Harper.
Tarik Skubal, Detroit Tigers
Skubal, an American League Cy Young Award candidate who was born in Hayward and grew up in Fremont before attending high school in Arizona, pitched a clean top of the second for the AL. He induced a groundout from Milwaukee’s Christian Yelich and got flyouts from Philadelphia’s Alec Bohm and Home Run Derby champion Teoscar Hernandez of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Marcus Semien, Texas Rangers
Starting at second base in Globe Life Field, his home ballpark, the reigning World Series champion and Bay Area native went 1-for-2 with a single and run scored. He lined out to left field in his other at-bat and started a double play after fielding a 103.5 mph ground ball from Harper.
Along with Kwan, he was replaced prior to the fifth inning by Baltimore’s Jordan Westburg.
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