The Closer Report: July 7, 2009

Saves: 8

Save Opportunities: 8

Huston Street knocks down another save and Soriano gets the call again

By Todd Farino, www.thecloserreport.com

Bobby Cox is going with the hot hand and that hand is Rafeal Soriano. Since Mike Gonzalez's last blown save on June 30, Rafael Soriano has been called in for the saves. Soriano got his ninth save of the season beating the Cubs 2-1. Gonzalez got the hold, but it's easy to see why Cox is going with Soriano. He has a 1.59 ERA and a minuscule 0.93 WHIP. Compare that to Mike Gonzalez's 3.12 ERA and 1.24 WHIP.

Huston Street is starting another streak (try saying that 3 times fast) for July. He beat Washington 5-4 for his 21st save and needed only 12 pitches for the perfect inning. After a sizzling month of June with 11 saves, he started slow for July, but now has two saves for the month. Street has been incredibly consistent this year with only one blown save back on June 2, and 13 saves in a row.

Francisco Cordero continues to defy us all. He recorded his 21st save tonight and has yet to have a break down or a slump all season. He has only one blown save so far and has kept his WHIP to a very respectable 1.14.

Rodney has continued to produce saves with his 18th tonight, but he is quickly developing into a Todd Jones type. Even know he got the save and struck out two, he opened the inning with a hit and one batter later walked Willie Bloomquist to bring up the tying run. He got the next guys out and finished strong for the save. Rodney has the ability to dominate, but he frequently loses focus and pays for it. So far with 18 saves, his owners have to be happy.

Jonathan Papelbon has been getting strong. After some scary and straight up rough appearances, Paps has calmed down and tonight was even better. He struck out the side and gave up one hit for his 21st save of the season. Papelbon has pitched 37 innings this season and the Red Sox likely have a 70-75 inning pitch limit on him. Now might be the time to trade Paps before the Red Sox start giving him periodical rests.

Other Appearances:
Matt Capps (19) - Pitched a perfect inning for the easy 6-3 win over Houston.
Chad Qualls (16) - Surprisingly Qualls pitched a perfect inning. Bravo!
Sergio Romo (1) - Got a cheap save with Brian Wilson getting the night off.
Brad Lidge - Came into a tie game and did what Brad does best, blew the lead. It is his fourth loss of the season.