Durbin hits second grand slam of August in victory

Caglianone smacked a two-run single in the third inning that increased the Royals’ edge to 3-0. He then clobbered a 393-foot (104.0-mph EV) go-ahead two-run homer off of Sammy Peralta in the fifth inning. The 23-year-old slugger then delivered an RBI single in the seventh that tied the score at six runs apiece. He finished the night 3-for-4 and is now hitting .273/.325/.495 with 22 long balls and 58 RBI on the season.

Massey opened the scoring in the ballgame with a 400-foot (103.2-mph EV) solo shot off of Grayson Rodriguez in the second inning. He also came through with a go-ahead RBI single in the seventh that proved to be the difference in the ballgame. With his three-hit attack, the versatile 28-year-old is now hitting .264/.296/.430 with 10 homers, 41 RBI and a pair of stolen bases in 337 plate appearances on the year.

Cruz came on with a one-run lead to protect in the ninth and made things interesting by allowing a one-out single to Jose Siri. Not to worry though, as he battled back to get Wade Meckler to ground into a fielder’s choice before retiring Mike Trout on strikes to end it. He appears to have supplanted Alex Lange as the team’s preferred option in the ninth inning and should probably be rostered in all mixed leagues at this stage.

Lugo struck out four hitters on the night and didn’t walk a batter. He cruised through the first two innings unscathed but ran into a buzzsaw in the third inning. The Angels loaded the bases with one out against him when Lugo struck out Mike Trout. Nolan Schanuel followed with a three-run double though and Zach Neto added an RBI single to push four runs across. The Halos added another run while chasing him in the fifth. Lugo got seven whiffs on 86 pitches on the night, posting a CSW of 29 percent. He’ll bring a disappointing 4.59 ERA and 1.38 WHIP into Wednesday’s matchup against the Athletics.

Schanuel came through with a bases-clearing three-run double off of Seth Lugo in the third inning that tied the score at 3-3. He also added an RBI single in the fifth that knotted things up at 5-5. Even without the prototypical power production at first base, Schanuel is having a decent season for the Halos, slashing .273/.351/.387 with seven long balls and 46 RBI in 430 plate appearances.

The 26-year-old right-hander punched out five batters in the ballgame while issuing a pair of walks. He served up a solo homer to Michael Massey in the second inning, then Jac Caglianone delivered a two-run single against him in the third. Rodriguez got 12 swings and misses on 89 pitches in the contest, posting a CSW of 27 percent. He’ll attempt to improve upon his brutal 7.17 ERA and 1.59 WHIP when he squares off against the Astros in Houston on Thursday.

This was an unbelievable baseball game that the Astros were fortunate to win. They blew a three-run lead in the middle innings and fell behind by two runs in the top of the 10th. Then, Andrés Muñoz imploded and let them tie the game before Walker came up with two on in a tie game in the bottom of that inning. He promptly launched a three-run, walk-off shot deep into the Crawford Boxes to send them home winners. That was his 23rd home run of the season in what’s been a solid bounce back campaign for the veteran first baseman.

Lambert keeps moving right along. He tightened up after allowing two runs in the top of the first inning and barely let the Mariners challenge him after that as no other runners reached scoring position. He showed off his deep repertoire too, forcing whiffs with five different pitches including four each with his fastball and changeup. This was his eighth consecutive start allowing two runs or fewer and he left it with a sparkling 3.11 ERA. He’s scheduled to face the Angels at home next time out.

This was a brutal blown save by Muñoz. After the Mariners put up two runs in the top of the 10th, Isaac Paredes hit an RBI single after an eight-pitch battle to cut the lead to one run quickly. Then, a two-out, game-tying single by Daulton Varsho set up a mammoth walk-off home run from Christian Walker. This was a game the Mariners absolutely had to have and Muñoz could not close it out. He now has a 4.47 ERA and seven blown saves in what’s become a catastrophic season.

Robles was a key contributor to the Mariners comeback before closer Andrés Muñoz imploded in the 10th inning. First, his sixth inning single cut the Astros’ lead to two runs. Then, his bunt single moved Cal Raleigh to second base before he scored the tying run on a ground rule double by Alan Roden in the eighth. Then, his RBI triple in the 10th pushed across the go-ahead run and his speed put him in position to score the all important insurance run on a sac fly just after. Those were each key hits in his final three at-bats to give the Mariners all the help they should’ve needed in an incredibly important series opener versus the division-leading Astros as they desperately try to keep their playoff hopes alive.