The Closer Report: August 5, 2010
The Closer Report by Todd Farino, thecloserreport.com
SAVES: Heath Bell (31), Jonathan Papelbon (26), Billy Wagner (26), Brad Lidge (12)
Heath Bell is simply dominating. Tonight he recorded his 31st save of the season and even went 1.1 innings to get it . It was his first save over the rival Dodgers this season and he got two strikeouts and now sits at 60 for the season. That puts Bell in the rare 30/60 club.
Billy Wagner and Jonathan Broxton continued solid starts for August with their 26th save of the season. Papelbon needed to rescue the Red Sox bullpen and only pitched .2 innings to record the save in a 6-2 win. Paps struck out both batters he faced on route to the save. Wagner had a much more exciting game. He closed on the win that gave the Braves the best record in the National League and he did it by catching a hard line drive right back at him. He also struckout the last batter to end the game. With the way the Braves are playing, Wagner could easily achieve 45 saves, but will likely finish around 41.
Brad Lidge saved his 12th game of the season in a ten inning affair over the Marlins. It was his second save of the month and his seventh since July 11. While he has been pitching better, Lidge still lacks the command needed to close out consistently and that is why he is 12/16 on the season in save chances. IN that game, Leo Nunez blew the save for the Marlins, giving up 1 ER on three hits. His defense let him down, but in the Nunez just didn't have his stuff this night.
Another elite closer also lost big. Jose Valverde gave up a 2-run triple in the 11th inning to Mark Kotsay and the Tigers lost their 17th game since the all star break. Valverde pitched two innings, giving up two runs and three hits, while striking out one. It's been a brutal second half for the Tigers closer. Since the all star break, Valverde's ERA has jumped from 0.92 to 2.81 in less than a month.
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!
SAVES: Heath Bell (31), Jonathan Papelbon (26), Billy Wagner (26), Brad Lidge (12)
Billy Wagner and Jonathan Broxton continued solid starts for August with their 26th save of the season. Papelbon needed to rescue the Red Sox bullpen and only pitched .2 innings to record the save in a 6-2 win. Paps struck out both batters he faced on route to the save. Wagner had a much more exciting game. He closed on the win that gave the Braves the best record in the National League and he did it by catching a hard line drive right back at him. He also struckout the last batter to end the game. With the way the Braves are playing, Wagner could easily achieve 45 saves, but will likely finish around 41.
Brad Lidge saved his 12th game of the season in a ten inning affair over the Marlins. It was his second save of the month and his seventh since July 11. While he has been pitching better, Lidge still lacks the command needed to close out consistently and that is why he is 12/16 on the season in save chances. IN that game, Leo Nunez blew the save for the Marlins, giving up 1 ER on three hits. His defense let him down, but in the Nunez just didn't have his stuff this night.
Another elite closer also lost big. Jose Valverde gave up a 2-run triple in the 11th inning to Mark Kotsay and the Tigers lost their 17th game since the all star break. Valverde pitched two innings, giving up two runs and three hits, while striking out one. It's been a brutal second half for the Tigers closer. Since the all star break, Valverde's ERA has jumped from 0.92 to 2.81 in less than a month.
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!
