Trevor Megill holds Pirates scoreless for 19th save

There was no injury announcement from the Royals, but hitting for Caglianone against a right-hander isn’t something the team would typically do, even if it was Vinnie Pasquantino replacing him. Caglianone struck out in both of his plate appearances before being plunked by Payton Tolle.

After Justin Foscue singled to open the game, Seager crushed the first pitch he saw from Eduardo Rodriguez, hitting a massive two-run homer. It left his bat at 110.8 mph, his highest EV of the season. Seager also reached 106 mph on both of his groundball singles today. He’s hitting .309 with seven homers since Aug. 12, raising his average from .192 to .231 and his OPS from .664 to .760.

Quantrill threw just 70 pitches to get 18 outs and likely would have kept going if not for the back issue. He said after the game that he expects to make his next start against the Jays. One of this season’s biggest surprises, he’s now 9-5 with a 2.90 ERA. It’s safe to say he won’t have to settle for a minor league deal again this winter.

Latz gave up three doubles. The last of those was hit 390 feet to left center by Jordan Lawlar and would have been a game-tying homer in 13 ballparks. Latz, though, managed to strand Lawlar by striking out Tommy Troy and getting Gabriel Moreno to pop out after intentionally walking Ketel Marte.

Rodriguez gave up a two-run homer right away in the first but then kept the Rangers scoreless until the fifth, when misplays from Nolan Arenado and Lars Nootbaar fueled a three-run inning. All of those runs were unearned. Rodriguez stayed in to start the sixth, only to be removed after a walk and a sac bunt. The run came around to score after Taylor Clarke took over. Rodriguez fell to 15-6 with a 2.62 ERA. He’ll get the Yankees on Saturday, likely in a matchup with Cam Schlittler. That makes him a pretty mediocre play in mixed leagues.

Playing in his second game since returning from a calf strain, Jung was removed after six innings, though it doesn’t seem like he had a setback. His big hit today was a liner to left that bounced just in front of a handcuffed Lars Nootbaar and then went through Nootbaar’s legs all of the way to the wall in left. It was ruled a single and an error, with Jung ending up at second base. He certainly would have been at third if not for the calf causing him to take it easy on the bases.

Even though he has the worst hard-hit rate and lowest average exit velocity of his career, Arenado has 25 homers in 140 games. That’s almost as many as the 28 he hit the previous two years combined. The homer today was his 378th, moving him past Norm Cash and Jeff Kent and into a tie with another Gold Glove third baseman, Matt Williams, for 83rd on the all-time list.

Schanuel has been out for three weeks with an intercostal strain. If things go well tonight, it’s possible he’ll be activated during the series against the Mariners that starts Monday.

Gonzales’s double to right would have been a three-run homer in 23 ballparks and likely a two-run double in six of the remaining seven. In Wrigley, though, the ball got stuck in the ivy, preventing Rafael Flores Jr. from scoring the go-ahead run. Fortunately, Brandon Lowe followed with a two-run single off the bench, giving the Pirates a 4-2 lead. It was Gonzales’s 26th double of the year. He’s still in the running for a batting title. At .304, he trails only Luis Arraez (.313) and Otto Lopez (.309) in the NL.

Chandler allowed five hits, including a two-run homer, and walked four, but thanks to a couple of double plays, he was able to keep it together and improve to 5-1 since the beginning of August. He’s now 8-9 with a 4.28 ERA overall, and he’s a decent fantasy option in a home start against the Royals next weekend.