Mesa Jr. back in the lineup on Thursday

All he does is win, no matter what. Sugano breezed through nearly seven innings against the hapless Royals lineup with the only blemish on his ledger coming from a Carter Jensen solo home run. That makes it wins in three straight starts for the crafty righty and wins in seven straight decisions dating back to early June. That is outright shocking while pitching for a team with only 43 wins in total. Sugano is a prime trade candidate before Monday’s deadline and he should benefit from leaving Coors Field.

Romano made quick work of the Royals here to earn yet another save. He’s now 5-for-5 in save opportunities since being picked up by the Rockies earlier this month and has only given up one run through 7 2/3 innings. It’s still worth remaining leery of this resurgence and maintaining a general distrust for closers who call Coors Field home.

Moniak got the Rockies going in this one with a double in his first plate appearance and came home to score a few batters later. Moniak has had a great season so far with 17 home runs, a .278 batting average, and an .881 OPS through 72 games. There’s a chance that production could take a hit though with his name coming up in trade rumors and the chance that he’ll no longer play half of his games in Coors Field.

Jensen’s solo shot represented the Royals’ lone run in an unexpected pitcher’s duel at Coors Field. Nevertheless, it was an impressive shot that traveled an estimated 424 feet showing off Jensen’s massive raw power. He’s been mired in a prolonged slump now though with just a .216 batting average and .289 on-base percentage over his last 30 games.

Wacha put together a fantastic start in Coors Field after a lengthy weather delay. He leaned on his trusted changeup as his primary pitch and it forced 13 of his 17 total swings-and-misses. That’s tied for the most whiffs he’s induced in any outing this season and showed the might of a quality changeup in extreme altitude. He’s put together a solid season to this point with a 3.51 ERA, 111 strikeouts, and 38 walks through 138 1/3 innings. If he remains with the Royals through the trade deadline, his next would come against the Twins at home.

With first place on the line in the American League west, the Astros came ready to hit. Paredes was at the center of that with a big home run to stretch their lead out in the fifth inning and another run-scoring hit in the seventh when the rout was on. That homer was his 15th of the season and five of which have come in his last 26 games.

Minnesota also got solo shots from Royce Lewis and Ryan Jeffers. At 97.1 mph off the bat, Lee’s homer fell a little short of qualifying as a barrel, but that’s not unusual for him. In fact, he has just 12 barrels despite collecting 16 homers this year. His exit velocity numbers suggest he should be doing quite a bit worse than his current .244/.302/.423 line, but the Twins don’t need anyone telling him that.

Matthews succeeded at getting ahead in the count against a subpar offense and picked up four strikeouts with his fastball, three with his slider and two with his cutter. It’s his first ever 10-strikeout game after a pair of nine-K outings as a rookie last year. His previous high this year had been seven. Matthews might have another generous start coming up against the Royals, depending on how exactly the Twins choose to insert Dean Kremer into the mix. It’s possible Matthews will lose his spot and return to Triple-A for a spell.

Gómez had some of his best velocity of the year tonight, topping out at 97.7 mph, which probably helped him get around walking a couple of batters in the ninth. His month of July saw him pick up two wins and five saves while allowing two runs in 10 1/3 innings. He’s no lock to remain useful going forward, but he’s been plenty valuable in mixed leagues of late.

An unhappy Miller departed up 3-2 after retiring Ryan Jeffers to start the sixth, but the lead was blown an inning later. Miller averaged 95.7 mph with his fastball on six days’ rest tonight. It’s the fifth straight outing in which he’s been in 95.0-.95.8 mph range after never coming in below 96.0 mph in his first eight starts. He’s still a reasonable enough bet to be useful in mixed leagues going forward, but the new ceiling he seemed to be demonstrating a couple of months ago is largely gone now. He’ll face the Rays next.