Royals send the struggling Lucas Erceg to Triple-A

Grissom was hit by a pitch in the 11th before the game-ended with a Christian Moore bases-loaded infield single that bounced off Taylor Rogers’ leg. Grissom’s homer off A.J. Minter was his 12th. His .237/.305/.384 line isn’t anything special, but he has managed to drive in 66 runs in 442 plate appearances. He should be ahead of Moore on the depth chart at second base to open next season. It just remains to be seen if the Angels will seek an outside upgrade there.

The highlight for Detmers tonight was picking up his 200th strikeout. Otherwise, it was his worst outing in at least six weeks, and it ensured that he’d finish with a sub-.500 record in spite of all of his recent success. He’ll take a 6-8 record and a 3.47 ERA into his final start in Seattle.

Ryan departed with a 4-2 lead that wound up being blown. With any luck at all, it would have been a better night. He gave up seven hits but just three hard-hit balls, and the 376-foot homer he allowed to Jose Siri was only a home run in three of 30 ballparks. Ryan is due to face the Rangers in his final start.

Gómez retired only one of the five batters he faced before being replaced by Kody Funderburk, who saved Gómez’s ERA by inducing a double play. It left with the Twins with a one-run lead entering the ninth, but that was blown by A.J. Minter in what turned into an 11-inning loss. Gómez was back in action tonight following one day off after pitching three days in a row, and the Twins are simply asking for too much from him at the moment. He’s been a great surprise for the team this year, but he’s still an average reliever at best. One imagines that Jeff Hoffman, who pitched a scoreless seventh tonight, will get a chance to take over as the Twins’ closer next year. It should have happened after he was acquired last month.

Batting for Freddy Fermin, Salas got to face a drawn-in infield because a wild pitch advanced Cronenworth to third, and he was able to connect on a grounder up the middle that would have won the game even if the second baseman had gotten to it. The Padres have won four straight games and are five up on the D-backs with seven to play.

Mize’s Padres tenure has been a disaster for his upcoming free agency, with his 24/17 K/BB in 40 2/3 innings standing out as being even more hideous than his 6.64 ERA. He hasn’t actually hurt the Padres, who have gone 6-3 in his starts, but he’s not giving the team any reason to trust him in the postseason. He’ll likely face the D-backs on Friday, but on the off chance that there’s anything still on the line at that point, he’ll by on a very short leash.

Miller entered with a one-run lead in the eighth and stranded Esteury Ruiz at third by striking out Heriberto Hernández and Kyle Stowers. The Marlins, though, got to him in the ninth, with Conine delivering a very impressive 427-foot homer off a 102.1-mph fastball as a pinch-hitter. It’s the third homer allowed by Miller this year. All three of those and all three blown saves have come since the beginning of August.

Pérez had a stretch in August in which he allowed one earned run in 18 innings, but in five starts since, he’s given up 24 earned runs in 21 1/3 innings, raising his ERA from 3.17 to 4.17. He’s going to be a tough pitcher to rank next year, given his lack of consistency. He’s due to face the Braves next weekend, but it wouldn’t be overly surprising to see him get scratched.

Ruiz was also caught stealing once, not that fantasy leaguers care about that. Ruiz has hit a surprising .223/.339/.386 with 33 steals in 235 plate appearances this year, though his weak EV numbers make his line look rather flukey. The steals would make him a fantasy stud with regular playing time, but he probably wouldn’t help a major league team in such a role.

Ohtani is eligible to return Wednesday, and it looks like that’ll be the day. He’s currently on the IL with knee and biceps injuries, but he was able to hit off a Trajekt machine and run the bases on the field Saturday.