Mariners continue August surge, hand Angels 11th straight loss

Welcome to The Walk Off, the nightly MLB recap from Big League Stew. Here we’ll look at the top performers of the night, show you a must-see highlight and rundown the scoreboard. First, we start with a game you need to know about.

American League teams may want to start taking notice of the Seattle Mariners. The M’s continued their dominant August on Monday, defeating the Los Angeles Angels by a score of 3-2.

With the win, the Mariners have won nine out of their last 10 games. The team is an excellent 11-3 during the month of August.

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The Angels, on the other hand, find themselves in the opposite position. With the loss, the club has now dropped 11 straight contests.

The Mariners have gone 11-3 in August. (Getty Images/Kevork Dejansezian)

During this meeting, the usual suspects were at it again for Seattle. Felix Hernandez turned in a kingly performance, giving up just two earned runs over 6 2/3 innings. He had some trouble with his command, walking four, but was able to slightly offset that with eight strikeouts.

On offense, outfielder Nelson Cruz added a solo home run in the fifth inning to give the club a 3-1 lead. It was Cruz’s 30th long ball of the year.

That home run would pay huge dividends immediately, as Hernandez’s nemesis Mike Trout would bring his team within one run with a solo shot in the bottom of the inning. Coming into Monday’s game, Trout was hitting .373/.420/.720, with six home runs, in 82 plate appearances against Hernandez. He added a home run and two walks to that line Monday.

With the win, the Mariners now find themselves just two games out of a wild card spot in the AL. During their recent run, the Mariners have managed to gain three games in that race since the start of the month.

TOP PERFORMERS

Gregory Polanco: Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Gregory Polanco continued his breakout season Monday during an 8-5 win over the San Francisco Giants. Polanco gave the Pirates the lead in the fourth inning, knocking a two-run single that put Pittsburgh ahead. An inning later, he added to that lead with a two-run homer to right. Polanco finished the night 2-for-4, with one run scored and four RBI.

Chad Green: New York Yankees pitcher Chad Green didn’t seem too intimidated by the Toronto Blue Jays’ fearsome lineup. The righty carved them up during a 1-0 win Monday. Over six innings, Green was fantastic. He allowed just two hits, and struck out an incredible 11 batters. It was only his fifth start of the season.

Kevin Kiermaier: Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Kevin Kiermaier proved he’s not just a strong defensive player during Monday’s 8-2 victory over the San Diego Padres. Kiermaier went 3-for-4 during the contest, with a home run and two singles. He scored two runs and drove in three. Kiermaier also proved his worth on the base paths, swiping two bags during the win.

MUST-SEE HIGHLIGHT

Boston Red Sox outfielder Mookie Betts usually makes the game look easy. His swing is beautiful, his outfield routes are clean and his base running ability is smooth. With that said, he’s capable of looking foolish on a baseball field every once and a while.

But since this is Mookie Betts we’re talking about, even his worst moments wind up being a positive. He proved as much during Monday’s 3-2 win over the Cleveland Indians. In the bottom of the first inning, Indians outfielder Rajai Davis lifted a high pop up to Betts out in right. The outfielder charged the ball, and looked to have an easy play on it.

In an instant, things changed. Betts appeared to lost his footing on the grass in right. His spike didn’t catch the dirt, and he started to slip and fall. As he was falling to the ground, Betts casually put out his glove and made the grab. Somehow, he found a way to come out on top and make a potentially embarrassing situation look graceful.

REST OF SCOREBOARD

Royals 3, Tigers 1: Inspired by a new rally mantis, the Royals survived a late home run from J.D. Martinez to pull off the win.

Marlins 6, Reds 3: Chris Johnson homered and double for the Marlins while Marcell Ozuna popped his 20th home run of the season during the win.

Rangers 5, Athletics 2: Adrian Beltre hit his 10th career grand slam to give the Rangers the lead and the eventual win. He was vehemently opposed to a Gatorade bath following the contest.

Nationals 5, Rockies 4: Bryce Harper put the Nationals up with a clutch seventh inning double. That enabled Mark Melancon to pick up his 34th save of the season.

Diamondbacks 10, Mets 6: Six different Diamondbacks notched at least one RBI as Robby Ray picked up his sixth win of the year.

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