Seattle

Mariners

Montes’s homer off Wyatt Olds in the fifth was only out of 11 ballparks, but it was a legitimate blast, traveling 407 feet to center. It’s obviously his first in the majors, but it’s the 39th he’s hit on the year. The Mariners had Montes DH his debut, even though reports suggest he’s a better option in right field than Dominic Canzone. He’ll probably take a seat in favor of Victor Robles with the Red Sox throwing left-hander Patrick Sandoval in Wednesday’s game.

Woo had great velocity again tonight, averaging 97.1 mph with his fastball and topping out at 98.8 mph. His four highest average fastball velocities of the season have all come in his last four starts, even as the third of those was pushed back by a shoulder issue. The win tonight makes Woo 10-9 with a 4.25 ERA. He has a favorable start at home against the A’s coming up on Sunday.

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.

Montes will make his big-league debut at Fenway Park with Seattle trying to remain within shouting distance of a Wild Card playoff spot. The power-hitting 21-year-old boasts impressive raw power, but he’s going to need to show that he can make enough consistent contact at the highest level to be an impact fantasy contributor. He’s a bit of an outlier with most organizations starting to prioritizing hitters that make strong swing decisions over free swingers.

Montes should play a lot of right field against righties for the Mariners after hitting .249/.369/.558 with 38 homers between Double- and Triple-A. He’ll strike out a bunch, and he’s probably not going to be a quality mixed-league guy right away. Still, he should be an upgrade from this current version of Taylor Ward if the Mariners let that happen.

Why like this? The Mariners only just now announced the Milner signing, but if they say it actually happened last night, that makes him postseason eligible, which he wouldn’t be if he only joined the organization today. Milner had a 3.53 ERA in 38 appearances for the Cubs before going on the IL with appendicitis on June 27. He returned to the mound on July 29, but the Cubs never activated him from his rehab assignment before letting him go on Friday.

Kingham, 30, was claimed off waivers from the Rangers three weeks ago and stashed in Triple-A. His major league experience consists of one inning with one run allowed for Texas earlier this season.

Joe got 45 plate appearances for the Mariners in the first half of the season, hitting .179 with one homer. He’s batted .264/.365/.420 in 73 games for Triple-A Tacoma. He’ll likely clear waivers and then can decide whether or not to become a free agent.

Kirby excelled against the Phillies last time out, but this makes three starts out of four in which he’s allowed at least five runs. His ERA is up to 4.19, and this is set to go down as a second straight season of him being a below average starter propped up by his home ballpark. Whether it’s more him to blame or the complacent Mariners, he’s simply not making nearly enough of his talent. Still, he most likely will post better results in a home start against the depleted A’s this weekend.

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.