AJ Smith-Shawver impresses in Triple-A start

McCarthy singled in the fourth inning to score Ezequiel Tovar and later stole second before TJ Rumfield struck out to end the inning. McCarthy would later triple in the sixth inning to drive home Tovar, and came around to score in the following at-bat on an RBI single by Connor Norby to give the Rockies a 4-3 lead. McCarthy would tally one more hit in the eighth inning to complete the three-hit night, and has now seven multi-hit games in September. McCarthy is slashing an impressive .364/.425/.606 in the month with eight games left to go in the season.

Hughes allowed a leadoff homer to J.P. Crawford to open the game, which was followed by back-to-back doubles from Randy Arozarena and Dominic Canzone. He would strike out Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodriguez to get the first two outs of the inning, but allowed a two-RBI single to Josh Naylor to put his team down 3-0 before finally getting out of the inning. Those would be the only three runs Hughes would allow on the night, as he would settle in to pitch 3 2/3 scoreless innings the rest of the way while striking out four hitters over that span and allowing just one hit. Despite the rough start, Hughes would turn out a solid performance overall and has now allowed three earned runs or fewer in three of his last four starts. Hughes will make his final start of the on Thursday against the Diamondbacks.

Muñoz allowed a leadoff single to Cole Carrigg to begin the ninth inning. Carrigg would steal second base three pitches later to move into scoring position for Kyle Karros, who would go down on strikes. Muñoz would then pick off Carrigg, who was attempting to steal third, before retiring Mickey Moniak on strikes to end the game. It was the 28th save of the season for Muñoz, who is 4-for-5 in save opportunities this month.

Montes came up big for the Mariners in the top of the ninth inning when he blasted a solo homer off of Rockies closer Jordan Romano. Montes blasted a low-and-inside slider from Romano 426 feet into the Colorado night sky to break a 4-4 tie and has now homered four times since getting the call-up in September. Montes now has 10 RBI in 13 games and is slugging .607.

Woo allowed a two-out RBI single to Cole Carrigg in the bottom of the first inning to cut the Mariners’ lead to 3-1, and escaped the second inning without allowing a run despite allowing a leadoff triple to Mickey Moniak. Woo would give up an RBI single to Jake McCarthy in the fourth inning for his second earned run of the night, and was pulled after allowing a one-out single to Ezequiel Tovar in the sixth inning. Tovar would come around to score to give Woo his third earned run of the night, but righty made out far better than expected for a guy who allowed at least one baserunner in every inning, and multiple baserunners in three of those innings. Woo has allowed just four earned runs over 25 1/3 innings of work this month and will make his final start of the season next Thursday at home against the Angels.

Langford reached base safely in four of his five plate appearances and picked up his 14th stolen base of the season. With the victory, the Rangers pull into a virtual tie with the Astros for the AL West division title while sitting one game back of the White Sox for the final AL Wild Card playoff spot.

Straw was responsible for Toronto’s lone extra-base hit of the contest when he delivered an RBI double against Rangers starter Kumar Rocker in the fifth inning. The Blue Jays’ offense went silent at the worst possible time as Rocker along with relievers Tyler Alexander and Trevor Williams combined to allow just one run on five hits. Not great. The Blue Jays find themselves on the outside of the playoff race behind the White Sox and Rangers heading towards the final week of the season.

Williams needed just 49 pitches (34) strikes to navigate four nearly-flawless frames and close out the Blue Jays after Kumar Rocker and Tyler Alexander handled the opening five innings. The 34-year-old veteran latched on with the Rangers earlier this month after being cut loose by the Nationals. He’s posted a solid 2.89 ERA across 9 1/3 innings of work since September 1.

Rocker managed to keep Toronto’s offense in check until Myles Straw put a ball in the left-center field gap for an RBI double in the fifth inning. Fortunately, reliever Tyler Alexander was able to come on an prevent any further damage. He finished with two strikeouts and also handed out a pair of free passes. The 26-year-old former top prospect holds a pedestrian 4.47 ERA, 1.42 WHIP and 134/59 K/BB ratio across 143 innings this season. He’ll presumably get the ball to close out the regular season against the Mets on Thursday. That could change depending on what the Rangers need to do to secure a playoff spot.

The Blue Jays really needed this game with Cease on the hill and a playoff spot within shouting distance, but it simply didn’t happen. The metaphorical floodgates opened up in the fourth inning after a throwing error by shortstop Ernie Clement led to three unearned runs crossing the plate before the frame was over. Cease finished with only three strikeouts and issued a season-high six walks in the ugly outing. He’ll close out the regular season with a road tilt against the division-rival Orioles on Wednesday.