Mason Miller News: Shaky in non-save spot

Miller coughed up three runs on one hit and two walks in the ninth inning of Friday's 6-4 win over the Royals. He struck out one.

The A's closer hadn't pitched since Sunday, so manager Mark Kotsay elected to get Miller some work in a 6-1 game. The flamethrowing righty had trouble finding the plate, tossing only 14 of 25 pitches for strikes, but he displayed his usual elite velocity as 16 of those pitches reached triple digits, including a 100.7 mph fastball on his final offering of the night. It was the first time he'd issued multiple walks since May 17, but Miller's been struggling overall since the beginning of last month, stumbling to an 8.78 ERA, 1.73 WHIP and 19:12 K:BB in his last 13.1 innings while blowing two of his last six save chances.