The Closer Report: June 10, 2009

Saves: 9

Save Opportunities: 10

Bailey gets ripped by the Twins giving Nathan his 13th save .
By Todd Farino, www.thecloserreport.com

Andrew Bailey had a nightmare appearance against the Twins. He gave up three runs on three hits and two walks. He entered a tie game, so the only goods news, he didn't blow the save. I''ll keep an eye on how this develops with Ziegler waiting in the shadows.

After Bailey's implosion, Nathan came in for his 13th save of the season and has continued his hot streak that started seven saves ago.

Heath Bell continued his torrid pace with his 18th save of the season over the Dodgers 3-1. His WHIP fell back below 1.00 and he is pitching his best baseball right now.

Brian Wilson also continued to show he can hang with the stud closers with a 6-4 save over Arizona. He struck out the side in a perfect ninth inning. What a season Wilson is having. He has definitely become one of the best draft values of the season.

On his first day as Philadelphia's closer, Ryan Madson got his third save of the season. He looked as sharp as he has all season. He pitched a perfect inning and struck out none.

Francisco Cordero blew his first save of the season giving up 2 runs. To be fair Cordero had to wait over two hours because of a rain delay and he couldn't have been loose after that long of a delay. I think we can ignore this appearance and assume that Cordero is still one of the top closers in the league.

Other Appearances:
Huston Street (11) - Awesome performance for Street. He struck out the side for a perfect inning.

David Aardsma (10) - Another perfect inning and another strikeout.

David Weathers (1) - A nice appearance in a 12-inning game.

Jonathan Papelbon(16) - Paps created some late innings drama with the Yankees, but got the easy save and stranded Gardner on second base.

Matt Capps (14) - Came very close to blowing the save. Gave up a home run to Garret Anderson.