Bullpen Report: June 21, 2019

The showdown between Frankie Montas and Charlie Morton on Thursday night lived up to expectations. Montas dominated the Rays for eight innings, allowing just one run (on a Tommy Pham solo shot), while a Jurickson Profar solo homer was the only run allowed by Morton over 6.1 innings. Emilio Pagan relieved Morton and kept the game knotted at 1-1, giving the Rays’ offense a chance to take the lead against Athletics closer Blake Treinen.

Instead of the game being defined by a matchup of two of the American League’s best starters, it became a story of two struggling closers. Treinen began the top of the ninth inning by walking Pham and Brandon Lowe, and then the Rays pounced with a double steal and back-to-back RBI singles by Avisail Garcia and Ji-Man Choi. That was it for Treinen: four batters, two runs scored, no outs. He was relieved by Ryan Buchter, who let Garcia score on a one-out Willy Adames sacrifice bunt.

The Rays entered the bottom of the ninth with a 4-1 lead, which they entrusted to Diego Castillo, who entered the contest having allowed eight runs (five earned) on 11 hits and five walks over his previous 8.2 innings. Like Treinen, Castillo got into early trouble with walks, sandwiching free passes to Robbie Grossman and Profar around a Stephen Piscotty groundout. It looked as if Castillo would get out of the jam, as he struck out Beau Taylor on three pitches. However, Marcus Semien cut the lead to two runs on a comebacker that evaded the Lowe’s glove and rolled into center field. Not only did Grossman score, but Profar and Semien advanced when Kevin Kiermaier accidentally spiked the ball on an attempted throw. It likely didn’t matter, as Matt Chapman ended the game on a walk-off homer.

Neither Treinen nor Castillo has been demoted from the closer role, and they could continue to get save chances simply because their respective teams lack a clear alternative. For the A’s, Lou Trivino has been inconsistent at best, while the Rays still have Jose Alvarado on the restricted list. Liam Hendriks has been reliable for close to two months and could be the A’s best option for replacing Treinen, if they go that route. Pagan already has three saves this season and could add to that total if the Rays want to make a change.

We can also add Greg Holland to the list of closers who were hurt by walks on Thursday night. He was called on to protect a 4-3 lead over the Rockies in the top of the ninth inning, but the Diamondbacks’ righty issued a pair of one-out walks to Ryan McMahon and Raimel Tapia. His second wild pitch of the inning allowed both runners to advance, and McMahon scored easily on Tony Wolters single into right field. Holland avoided the loss by getting Daniel Murphy to hit a double play ball, but the Rockies prevailed in the 10th inning against Yoshihisa Hirano.

Scott Oberg held off the Diamondbacks in both the ninth and 10th innings, though he had to work out of a bases-loaded jam in the latter frame. Bud Black told reporters after the game that Wade Davis was unavailable, so fantasy owners should not read too much into Oberg pitching in what would normally be a situation reserved for the closer.

A trio of closer situations that are likely to change in the coming weeks had some notable developments. It was Steve Cishek, and not incumbent closer Pedro Strop, who closed out the Cubs’ 7-4 win over the Mets. As with Davis, an absence on Thursday night did not mean that Strop lost the closer’s role, but rather that he, too, was unavailable. Meanwhile, soon-to-be-closer Craig Kimbrel is scheduled to make another appearance for Triple-A Iowa on Friday. More may be known about his timetable to join the Cubs later this weekend.

Roenis Elias appears to be in firm control of the Mariners’ closer job for now, as he recorded his third save in nine days. He pitched a perfect inning to close out a 4-2 win over the Orioles on Thursday night. Hunter Strickland (lat) is not set to return and reclaim the closer’s job anytime soon, as he has received two PRP injections this week. He may resume throwing on Friday.

Despite earlier claims that Jose Leclerc would soon be taking over as the Rangers’ closer, Chris Woodward continues to give save chances to Shawn Kelley. He did so again on Thursday night, as Kelley was brought in to protect a 4-1 lead against the Indians. That lead was quickly whittled to two runs, as Carlos Santana led off the ninth inning with a home run, but Kelley allowed nothing more than a Jason Kipnis single after that. This was the third time in his last five appearances that Kelley had allowed a run. If Leclerc is knocking on the door, he isn’t doing it loudly, having allowed five runs over his last six innings.

The Royals’ closer situation was amorphous earlier this season, and then once Ian Kennedy emerged in the ninth inning role, there were few save opportunities for him to convert. That has changed over the last 22 days. In that span, Kennedy is a perfect 7 for 7 in save opportunities, and in the process, he has struck out 12 hitters in 7.1 innings while allowing one run on four hits and one walk. Kennedy’s latest save came on Thursday night against the Twins, as he set down the 4-5-6 hitters in order to complete the Royals’ 4-1 victory.

Quick hits: Kenley Jansen (22), Aroldis Chapman (20), Sean Doolittle (16) and Sergio Romo (13) all converted saves on Thursday…The Blue Jays activated Ken Giles on Thursday, and on Thursday night, he pitched a 1-2-3 top of the ninth inning in a 5-5 tie with the Angels. Prior to this game, the Blue Jays’ relievers had recorded one save and no holds since June 4, but Joe Biagini and Tim Mayza both notched their eighth holds in this contest. Ty Buttrey ultimately took the loss for the Angels in the 10th inning, as he gave up Billy McKinney’s walk-off two-run homer…The Phillies placed Pat Neshek on the IL with a strained left hamstring. They could get a key reliever back on Friday with the expected activation of Adam Morgan (forearm).