The life of a closer often hinges on just a few pitches.
Unlike starters, who can pitch out of jams and recover from
bad innings, closers usually get about 10 pitches to earn their keep.
Kenley Jansen, the Dodgers’ closer, had a veritable meltdown
on Friday night, giving up three runs on three hits and blowing a 5-2 lead that
disintegrated into a 6-5 loss.
Adding sting to the wound was a Giants loss that could have
closed the gap in the NL West to three games. Instead, Los Angeles remained
four games back.
Last night, Jansen got the call again with the Dodgers up
4-2 over the Padres. This time, Jansen was on the right side of the equation,
giving up one hit, striking out one batter and retiring San Diego without a
whimper.
The Dodgers were able to keep pace with San Francisco, which
snapped a six-game losing streak with a win over Arizona.
Josh Beckett (5-4) continued a -steady pace, tossing seven
innings of shutout ball and holding San Diego to four hits. Since tossing a
no-hitter in May, Beckett has posted a 1.58 ERA in his last six starts.
Hanley Ramirez, Dee Gordon and Adrian Gonzalez had
run-scoring hits for the Dodgers, who have now won 10 of their last 15 games to
close the gap in the NL West.
The Dodgers send Hyun-Jin Ryu (8-3, 3.18) to the hill today
to face former Dodger Eric Stults (2-9, 5.76).
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