The Closer Report: April 27, 2010

CLOSER NEWS AND FACTS:
Alfred Simon is the new Orioles closer and recorded his first save of his carer tonight against the Yankees.
Trevor Hoffman already has three blown saves and has given up runs in 5/8 appearances.
Did you know that Matt Capps nickname is "The Capper".

SAVES:
Matt Capps (9) - Capps looked great again.  He handled the Cubs with ease, giving up only a single to Geovany Soto and struck out Tyler Colvin to end the game.  His ERA is all the way down to 0.73.

David Aardsma (7) - Dominated the Royals.  He did give up a hit to David DeJesus, but he got doubled up on the next batter and ended the 3-2 win on 14 pitches.  A great comeback save for Aardsma after blowing a big save over the weekend.

Ramon Ramirez (1) - With Bard and Papelbon both overused and unavailable, Ramirez got the call and got the 2-1 versus Toronto.

Jason Motte (1) - Got the save for the resting Ryan Franklin.  He pitched 1.2 innings and walked two batters, but no hits.  Motte has been looking much lately.  His ERA is down to 2.08 and his WHIP is steady, but high at 1.38

Alfred Simon (1) - Got his first chance to save for the Orioles and had to do it against the Yankees.  He got roughed up at first giving up a hit and a walk, but after striking out Jeter he then got screwed by his shortstop for a run scoring error.  Overall, he gave up 1ER on two hits and a walk.  He had one strikeout on route to earning his first career save.

Jon Rauch (7) - Worked hard for the save, but in end the looked good.  Two strikeouts and a hit for the 2-0 win.  Despite some struggles, his season ERA looks good at 1.80.

Frank Francisco (1) - He closed out the game today with Neftali Feliz not available after pitching the last two days.  I also think that Feliz needed some time off after crashing two saves in the past week. Francisco looked sharp, neededing only 10 pitches for a perfect save.



Heath Bell (5) - Bell worked hard for his fifth save of the season.  He needed 20 pitches to end the game and opened the inning with two singles.  Uggla almost ended the game with a three run dinger, but it stayed in the park.  He then struck out Baker in a key at bat and the save was secure.
Rafeal Soriano (5) - Earned his fifth save of the season and needed only 13 pitches to finish off the A's.  He did record a strikeout, but his K/9 is still terribly low for his standards.


BLOWN SAVES:
Trevor Hoffman (BS3) - Hoffman was absolutely hammered for five runs on four hits and two of those were big flys.  Hoffman's days have to be numbered.  If you own him or need a closer, get LaTroy Hawkins added ASAP!
APPEARANCES:
Francisco Cordero - Finished a 6-2 game with two strikeouts and a hit.  Watching Cordero tonight, he was looking sharp and hitting the radar gun at 95.  He is definitely looking stronger with eash season.

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