With a single save Monday in a light slate of games, Tuesday turned into a big day for closers with 7 saves and a big blown save.  Starting over in Florida where the Rangers lit up Leo Nunez for two runs on two hits and a walk.  Matt Treanor hammered a fastball for a two-run double.  To be fair, Treanor was Nunez's catcher last year and knew him very well.  Still, it was a bad blown save for Nunez and his third of the season.  The BS opened the door for Neftali Feliz who saved his sixteenth save of the season.  He took down the Marlins 1-2-3 and struck out one.

Jonathan Papel got back to saving games and matched Feliz's work.,  He also had a perfect inning and a strikeout.  It was Papelbon's first save since June 2.  Even more dominating was Jose Valverde.  Some argue Valverde is the best closer in baseball.  Whether you agree or not, Valverde has put up the numbers to support it.  Tonight he recorded his 14th save of the season and struckout two in the process.  His ERA is all the down to 0.64 and his WHIP is falling fast at 0.78.

That pesky Ryan Franklin saves his 12th game of the season, but got roughed up in the process.   Russ Langerhans went yard off the Cardinals closer before he ended the game.  Franklin pitching against hard hitting American league teams is not good for his style.  He's loucky it's the Mariners this time.  Sticking with National League closers, Francisco Rodriguez is climbing up the save charts quickly with his 14th tonight 7-6 over the Indians. Like Franklin, Rodriguez showed his weakness by getting hammered as well.  Before closing out the 3-run lead he had, KROD gave up two runs on s Shelly Duncan bomb.  No, it's not a girl, and yes it's the Shelly Duncan for ages ago.

Then there was the fan favorite Bobby Jenks.  Jenks has been pitching much better lately and seemed to solidify his job for the White Sox.  He recorded his 12th save of the season over the tiresome Pirates and struck out two in the process.  I have to admit I was scared when he was facing Garrett Jones as the tying run with two outs.  Finally, David Hernandez got his second save in as many days with a 4-1 win over the Giants.  He looked as good as expected, striking out one and walking one.

SAVES:
Neftali Feliz (16)
Jonathan Papelbon (14)
Francisco Rodriguez (14)
Jose Valverde (14)
Bobby Jenks (12)
Ryan Franklin (12)
David Hernandez (2)

Listen to Todd "The True Guru" Farino breakdown all the closer activity three times a week on Blog Talk Radio. Every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday at 11pm PST. www.blogtalkradio.com/the-closer-report or download the podcast on ITunes!