Mason Miller took throwing heat to another level.
The Padres reliever threw the fastest recorded pitch in the postseason in Statcast history during San Diego’s 3-0 win over the Cubs in Game 2 of the National League Wild Card Series.
Miller reached 104.5 mph with a four-seam fastball to Carson Kelly, striking him out for the second out in the bottom of the seventh at Wrigley Field.
The called strike three painted the lower left-hand corner of the strike zone, prompting one of the ESPN broadcasters to say, “about as fast as a human being has ever thrown a baseball.”
Miller impressed in his brief 1 ⅔ innings of work for the Padres, striking out five of the six batters he faced and surpassing 100 mph on his pitches 11 different times.
Aroldis Chapman previously held the distinction for fastest pitch in the playoffs tracked by Statcast — which has been in use since 2015 — with a 104.2 mph pitch.
The Padres had acquired Miller in a blockbuster deadline deal with the A’s that brought him and JP Sears to San Diego.
Miller threw 23 ⅓ innings for the Padres after the trade and registered a 0.77 ERA during that time.
The Padres and Cubs will play a deciding Game 3 at 3:08 p.m. ET on Thursday at Wrigley.