The Closer Report: August 24, 2009

Saves: 3

Save Opportunities: 4

Soria blows big save in night of light action for MLB closers

By Todd Farino, www.thecloserreport.com

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There wasn't allot of action for closers tonight, but still some appearances worth noting.

Jaokim Soria gave up a three run bomb to youngster Luis Valbuena to blow his third save of the season. He entered the eighth inning of a 5-4 game and gave up three runs before recording his second out. Soria has been a major disappointment this season and that pain continues for his owners. So far he has only 20 saves and in the month of August he's only recorded two. To make matters worse, his last two appearances have resulted in losses.

On the bright-side, David Aardsma recorded his 29th save of the season in another near perfect inning of work. He now sits with the top closers in the league with 29 saves, 66 Ks, a 2.38 ERA, and a somewhat reasonable 1.25 WHIP. If the WHIP was about .20 lower, Aardsma would be amongst the top four closers. He has been a rare find for free agent hunters and turned into the type of player that wins fantasy championships. Brandon Morrow's failure was David Aardsma greatest moment.

Joe "The Save Man" Nathan got his 32nd save in a wacky night, 2-1 over the Orioles. Nathan was a bit wild walking two batters and needed 29 pitched to record the three outs. The part that makes this night wacky is he didn't give up a hit and struck out the side in the process. Nathan's you know what simply doesn't stink. Even when he blew a save on Friday, he still came through with a win, and that is magic to some. Tonight he walks two in a one run game and gets the save untouched. August has been a tough month for Nathan with only three saves, but he continues to be one of the best closers in the game.

Brad Lidge has been pitching well lately. Tonight he didn't record a save, but he did pitch a perfect inning for the Phillies. He needed 15 pitches to end the game and threw 10 for strikes. Not bad for Lidge.

Terry Francona wasn't taking any chances after another wild game tonight. He brought Papelbon into a 12-8 game to close it out and that he did. Paps struck out two and walked one in a quick ninth inning of work.

Other Appearances:

Fernando Rodney (27) - Rodney looked outstanding tonight. He pitched 1.1 perfect innings and struck out two for the save.

Kerry Wood - Pitched an inning with a four run lead. Gave up a hit and a walk.
Huston Street - Pitched one inning with a strikeout in the 14 inning affair.

Brian Wilson - Pitched 2.2 innings in the 14 inning game. He gave up four hits and a walk, while striking out 3.