Andrés

Muñoz

Zach Neto walked to start the ninth but then got picked off/caught stealing. Nolan Schanuel and Jorge Soler went on to single for Wade Meckler grounded out to end the game. It’s Muñoz’s seventh straight scoreless appearance, six of which have resulted in saves. He’s 16-for-20 saving games on the year.

Unlike most of his outings this season, this one was stress-free for the 27-year-old hurler. He struck out Kyle Manzardo and Brayan Rocchio to start the inning before retiring Kahlil Watson on a bouncer to short to end it. He appears to be rounding back into form after a miserable first few months of the season, with his ERA now under the 5.00 mark at 4.91.

Muñoz has four saves in the last eight days. Tonight’s saw him set down Tyler Callahan, Spencer Horwitz and Brandon Lowe on 16 pitches. The Mariners might now avoid him on Wednesday, since that would be three appearances in four days. Eduard Bazardo or Jose A. Ferrer could close in his place.

Muñoz allowed a one-out single to bring the tying run to the plate, but he struck out Willson Contreras and Jarren Duran to end the game without much of a threat and earn his 13th save. The closer has pitched way better than his 5.27 ERA and should be in for a much better second half of the season if his home run luck corrects back to the norm.

Muñoz issued a leadoff walk to Gunnar Henderson, then got a couple of ground balls before walking Samuel Basallo to bring the tying run to the plate. That’s where the 27-year-old hurler dug in though, getting Leody Taveras on strikes to end it. It continues to be a rough go for Muñoz this season, with a miserable 5.47 ERA over his first 26 1/3 innings of work.

Muñoz was called on in the ninth inning to close out the game with a two-run lead. He worked around a base hit, striking out one batter to secure the win for the Mariners and his 11th save of the season. Fantasy managers can breathe a sigh of relief after he departed Sunday’s game with a trainer due to lower back tightness.

There was understandably cause for corner when Muñoz left Sunday’s contest against the Nationals with lower back tightness. The 27-year-old closer, who has struggled this season overall, appears to be feeling better. He’ll presumably be available to handle any save chances during a three-game series against the Orioles at T-Mobile Park.

Muñoz was brought in to get some work despite the Mariners trailing by seven runs, and he faced just two batters before exiting with a trainer. The Mariners are calling the 27-year-old day-to-day, but it’s obviously plausible that the team will need to make a roster move if Muñoz is unavailable for the coming few days. Jose Ferrer, Gabe Speier and Eduard Bazardo would likely see the save chances for Seattle.

The 27-year-old right-hander was brought in to start the eighth inning just to get some work in. He wound up facing just two batters, walking Jorbit Vivas and giving up an RBI double to Jacob Young before being visited by the training staff and ultimately removed. It’s unclear exactly what occurred here, but the Mariners should have an update on Muñoz’s status after the game concludes. With Matt Brash also shelved, either Jose Ferrer or Eduard Bazardo would be the next man up to see save chances if Muñoz is forced to miss any time.

Muñoz got the call to protect a three-run lead in the final frame and managed to work around a one-out walk to Gunnar Henderson to slam the door. It was a much-needed rebound performance after coughing up two runs in an ugly blown save against the Tigers over the weekend. The 27-year-old has converted just 10 of 15 save chances to go along with a bloated 5.18 ERA, 1.36 WHIP and 37/10 K/BB ratio across 24 1/3 innings this season.