Andrés

Muñoz

The Mariners certainly weren’t intending to use Muñoz after taking a 9-4 lead into the ninth, but the Red Sox scored twice to force them to make the move. Muñoz got four outs in Monday’s loss, and working two straight days probably takes him out of play for Wednesday, even if he only threw four pitches tonight. Then again, while the Mariners haven’t used him three straight days this year, they did do it once last September; it’s something they’d only consider when they’re as desperate as they are right now.

Asked for a rare four-out save in a one-run game, Muñoz struck out Connor Wong after coming on with a man on second in the eighth. The ninth started with a Roman Anthony liner to center that Julio Rodríguez tried a diving attempt on, turning what should have been a single into a triple, and the Red Sox went on to tie the game on a sac fly. It goes as Muñoz’s ninth blown save, but he probably would have converted this one if not for Rodríguez’s bad decision.

Muñoz was summoned with a three-run lead in the top of the ninth to close out the game against the Phillies. He worked around a pair of walks, striking out two batters to lock down the save. It was a nice bounce-back outing after giving up a homer to blow his last save chance. The 27-year-old right-hander is up to 24 saves with a 4.28 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, and a 77/20 K/BB ratio across 48 1/3 innings.

Alex Bregman took him deep. This makes eight blown saves for Muñoz, but his closing gig remains safe. He’s allowed runs in only four of his last 23 appearances, and after prevailing in the bottom of the 10th tonight, the Mariners have picked up wins in two of his three blown saves during the span.

It took Muñoz just nine pitches to breeze through the ninth here and grab the save. He needed a few easy saves after his five-run implosion last Friday against the Astros and has now gone two straight without giving up a hit.

Seemingly highly motivated, Muñoz recovered nicely from one of the worst outings of his career in a blown save and loss Friday. He averaged 101.1 mph with his 11 heaters tonight, topping his season average by 1.5 mph.

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.

Muñoz looked exceptional in this one, needing just 11 pitches (eight strikes) to retire the Yankees in order — including strikeouts of George Lombard Jr. and Jazz Chisholm Jr. He has now converted 21 of his first 27 save chances on the season while registering a 3.71 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and a 69/17 K/BB ratio across 43 2/3 innings.

Muñoz was coming off a blown save on Sunday, but he got a win that day anyway. He has four saves and two wins over his last six appearances.

Muñoz surrendered a leadoff opposite-field homer to Luke Keaschall which just sneaked over the right field fence. He would go on to give up a single and a walk to push the go-ahead run into scoring position, but struck out Josh Bell and got Kody Clemens on a fly out to escape further damage. This was Muñoz’s first blown save since way back on June 7 against the Tigers. Meanwhile, the home run was the first he’s given up since May 26. There’s no cause for concern here.