Two runs in the top of the ninth kept the Astros from getting a hold, hold, save out of off-season acquisitions Pat Neshek, Chad Qualls and Luke Gregerson. The pair the Astros scored in the top of the ninth erased the save opportunity for Gregerson.

Jonathan Papelbon threw nine of his ten pitches for strikes while recording his second save of the young season. After his Edward James Olmos ugly, three walk Wednesday night outing, Ken Giles bounced back results-wise tonight, recording two strikeouts as he garnered a hold in a solid inning. His fastball is down about 2.5 mph from his 2014 average of 98. With his slider losing about 0.5 mph so far, the velo gap between that and the heater is narrowing. 96 is still plenty of velocity, but keep an eye on this, as maybe he’s just building up arm strength and will be back to 98+ in short order.

On Chicago’s south side, many fantasy owners benefitted from Brian Duensing’s first save of the season that he procured during the Twins 6-0 victory over the White Sox. Or they didn’t. He came in to pitch the eighth, and when the Twins put up three in their half of the ninth, Paul Molitor left him out there to close out the game. Sox setup man Zach Putnam surrendered a couple of earned runs in his make-work inning.

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With the news that Kenley Jansen is going to be sidelined into May after undergoing surgery on his landing foot, the Dodgers are going to need to find someone to close games for them in his stead. Over the past five seasons, Andrew Friedman has cobbled together bullpens in Tampa that ranked 11th in WAR in the majors. Not stellar, but definitely better than the 24th place the Dodgers have ranked over that same span. Has he given Don Mattingly the right mix to fill the hole left by Jansen, or is he going to go out and add a Rafael Soriano through free agency, or will he reach out to the Phillies and try to make a deal for Jonathan Papelbon?

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