Andres

Munoz

Muñoz was summoned in the ninth inning to close out the game with a three-run lead. He struck out two batters in a clean inning of work, locking down his 20th save of the season.

Muñoz has been dealing with elbow soreness, but Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times reports that it’s likely that Muñoz will be available for Wednesday’s game. He also was reportedly available the last two outings, but he hasn’t been used in the ninth inning despite the games being tied. It’s something to keep an eye on because of the 25-year-old’s injury history.

Muñoz said he’s OK to pitch, and given that he’s spent much of his career managing his elbow, we’ll take his word for it. He never warmed up in a 2-2 game tonight, and the Mariners ended up losing with Trent Thornton on the mound in the bottom of the ninth.

Muñoz made things interesting on himself by walking Matt Chapman to start the frame but battled back to strike out Mike Yastrzemski before getting Thairo Estrada on a chopper in front of home plate. The 25-year-old hurler then walked Grant McCray to put the winning run on base before retiring Mark Canha on a swinging third strike to end it. Muñoz now boasts 19 saves to go along with a stellar 1.80 ERA on the season.

The Mariners actually turned to Muñoz in the seventh tonight, and he allowed an inherited runner to score then, tying the game and resulting in the blown save. The eighth saw him put two guys on via a HBP and a walk and then give up a three-run homer to Jason Heyward before he was removed with two outs. Muñoz was charged with as many earned runs tonight as in his previous 29 appearances combined. He’s still the heavy favorite for saves in Seattle, but with desperation setting in, he might continue to enter games in tough situations.

Muñoz hadn’t allowed a hit in his last 12 1/3 innings. That changed quickly as Javier Baez welcomed him with a two-run shot in the eighth inning that gave him his fourth blown save of the season and fourth loss. Muñoz has been outstanding in 2024 with a 1.35 ERA even with that roundtripper, but today counts as a bummer.

Muñoz battled through increasing rain to lock down this save. His velocity was down a few ticks across the board, but that can likely be attributed to the wet conditions he was pitching in. There’s some fear Yimi García siphons off some save chances from Muñoz as Ryne Stanek did at times this year, but it hasn’t happened yet as Muñoz grabbed saves in back-to-back games to close out this weekend series.

Another sensational outing from Muñoz. The right-hander struck out two — including Luis Robert with the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth — and he needed only 14 pitches to get the four outs. Muñoz is up to 17 saves on the season, and his ERA is a sparkling 1.31.

Muñoz entered a 1-0 game after Ryne Stanek allowed two of the three batters he faced to reach and gave up a game-tying sac fly after a double steal. He preserved the 1-1 tie from there, throwing just 10 pitches in the process, but even so, the Mariners declined to bring him back out for the ninth in a 1-1 game and wound up losing 3-1. Maybe that was the sensible call with Muñoz after he also threw 12 pitches in saving Sunday’s game, but there are definitely issues to be raised about how Scott Servais is handling his relievers of late.

The 25-year-old hurler didn’t give the Astros an inch in this one, needing just 12 pitches (nine strikes) to punch out Jake Meyers, Trey Cabbage and Joey Loperfido in succession to end the ballgame. That included six whiffs, four of those on his slider, for an impressive CSW of 67 percent. The M’s closer now holds a minuscule 1.37 ERA,1.02 WHIP and a 49/18 K/BB ratio over 39 1/3 innings on the season.