Andrew Toles saves Dodgers day with last-chance grand slam

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.

A predictably wild day at Coors Field ended with one of the most unlikely moments of the entire season. Andrew Toles, who was out of baseball in 2015 while battling anxiety, stepped to the plate with the game on the line and delivered the ultimate result: A go-ahead grand slam.

[Join a Yahoo Daily Fantasy Baseball contest now]

The home run was Toles third of the season and capped a crazy Dodgers comeback that helped them maintain a healthy 1 1/2 game lead in the NL West.

After losing the opener of their day-night doubleheader in Colorado 7-0, the Dodgers were again down six runs after the seventh inning in the nightcap. They rallied for three runs in the eighth, before scoring five against Rockies closer Adam Ottavino to win the game 10-8.

The Dodgers were down to their final out well before Toles got his opportunity. With two outs and Corey Seager on base, Yasmani Grandal and Josh Reddick each singled to keep the game alive. For Reddick, it was his first RBI since joining Los Angeles at the trade deadline. After a Joc Pederson walk loaded the bases, Toles hit an opposite field liner that just cleared the wall in left field.

What a moment. If the Dodgers go on to win the division, that swing might prove to be the biggest of their entire season.

Toles not only saved the Dodgers, he managed to overshadow a momentous day for Rockies rookie Stephen Cardullo. Wednesday marked Cardullo’s 29th birthday, and he celebrated by homering in both ends of the doubleheader. The latter being a grand slam to cap Colorado’s five-run first inning. In doing so, Cardullo became the second player since 2000 to hit his first two career homers on his birthday.

TOP PERFORMERS

Ricky Nolasco: The Angels had something to feel good about on Wednesday as Nolasco tossed a four-hit shutout in their 3-0 win against the Reds. The shutout was Nolasco’s first since Sept. 9, 2012 with the Marlins. The outing required just 94 pitches, which is the lowest pitch total in a shutout performance by an Angel pitcher since Bartolo Colon on July 5, 2006. As always, any shutout with fewer than 100 pitches thrown is known as a “Maddux” in honor of Hall of Famer Greg Maddux. This was the third such outing in MLB this season, joining Kendall Graveman and Jered Weaver.

Rougned Odor: The power surge continued for Odor in the Rangers 14-1 destruction of the Mariners. After hitting a walk-off homer in Tuesday’s win, Odor smashed two more homers on Wednesday to give him 27 on the season. For perspective on how amazing his season has been, Odor only hit 25 total in his first two seasons. Odor hit a two-run shot in the seventh and then a three-run blast in the eighth to cap Texas’ scoring. This came after the Rangers scored six runs in four innings against Felix Hernandez.

Dustin Pedroia: Boston’s second baseman nearly tied a long-standing MLB record when he collected 11 straight hits over the weekend. He was then forced to miss two days while tending to a family matter, but has picked up where he left off. In Wednesday’s 8-6 win against the Rays, Pedroia went 3-for-5 with a run scored. Over his last six games, he’s now 17-for-25 (.680). Those are Little League numbers that have raised his batting average from .305 to .323.

MUST-SEE HIGHLIGHT

Jose Bautista set the tone early on Wednesday, smashing the game’s first pitch from Yovani Gallardo for a home run. The home run was Bautista’s 17th in an injury-plagued season, and was perhaps inspired by the new corn maze designed in honor of his ALDS bat flip. Russell Martin was clearly inspired, following with a two-run home run in the first inning. That strong start propelled the first-place Jays to a 5-3 win over the sinking Orioles.

REST OF SCOREBOARD

Tigers 3, White Sox 2: Detroit completes a three-game sweep on Tyler Collins’ ninth-inning sacrifice fly.

Astros 4, A’s 3: Like Detroit, Houston completed a three-game sweep with a late rally. The Astros scored three in the eighth, fueled by Jose Altuve’s game-tying RBI triple and Evan Gattis’ go-ahead single.

Giants 4, Diamondbacks 2: San Francisco gained a half game in the NL West behind another good start from Matt Moore and three hits from Joe Panik.

Nationals 2, Phillies 1: The two teams combined to score 12 runs in three games. Fortunately for Washington, they scored nine of those runs and won all three to maintain their NL East lead. Overall, the Nationals have won nine straight against Philadelphia.

Mets 5, Marlins 2: Closer Jeurys Familia set a Mets single-season record with his 44th save. Meanwhile, the Marlins finished a very disappointing August at 10-18.

Indians 8, Twins 4: Cy Young candidate Corey Kluber tossed eight innings of three-run ball while striking out 11. As for the Twins, they’ve lost 13 straight games overall.

Braves 8, Padres 1: After flirting with a no-hitter last time in Arizona, Matt Wisler followed with another gem. In six innings, he allowed one run on four hits while striking out 10.

Cubs 6, Pirates 5: The battle for the NL home run lead continues. Kris Bryant temporarily grabbed the lead with his 36th for the Cubs, only for Colorado’s Nolan Arenado to again tie him later.

Brewers 3, Cardinals 1: Despite losing scoring only one run, St. Louis set a franchise record by homering in its 20th straight game. Yadier Molina did the honors with his fifth this season.

Yankees 5, Royals 4 (13 innings): New York won 5-4 in 10 innings on Tuesday. Here, they won in 13 on Brian McCann’s go-ahead sacrifice fly.

More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports:

– – – – – – –

Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

Follow @Townie813