Bullpen Report: September 7, 2018

Thursday’s slate was short on games — just four of them — but it was not totally devoid of closer developments. Two of the contests went to extra innings, and in the case of the Braves-Diamondbacks game, closer failure played a role in the game going beyond regulation. The Braves rolled into the bottom of the ninth inning with a 6-4 lead, but Brian Snitker did not have A.J. Minter to close out the game, since he had thrown 36 pitches in Wednesday’s loss to the Red Sox. Instead, Snitker turned to Jesse Biddle, who entered with a streak of nine straight appearances without an earned run, covering 8.1 innings.

It didn’t take long for Biddle’s streak to come to an end. Pinch-hitter Christian Walker started off the Diamondbacks’ portion of the inning with a double, and then with A.J. Pollock up, he advanced to third base on a wild pitch. Pollock wound up making the first out, but his fly to right center field was deep enough to bring Walker home. Two batters later, Paul Goldschmidt tied the game on a solo shot off a Biddle curveball that caught the middle of the strike zone.

Torey Lovullo countered with Brad Boxberger in the top of the 10th inning, and he appeared to be on cruise control, beginning with a strikeout of Lucas Duda and then inducing a first-pitch flyout from Ozzie Albies. Dansby Swanson kept the inning alive with a ground ball single and got into scoring position with a stolen base. Tyler Flowers nearly ended the game with a ground ball single of his own, but Swanson slipped while rounding third base. After Boxberger loaded the bases with a a walk to Ronald Acuna, Lovullo pulled him in favor of Yoshihisa Hirano, who bounced his third pitch in the dirt. Alex Avila couldn’t corral it, and Swanson dashed home for the go-ahead run.

In the bottom of the inning, Brad Brach made the one-run lead hold up, notching his 12th save of the season. Boxberger has now been credited with a loss in both of his September appearances. Conspicuously absent from Thursday night’s festivities was Archie Bradley, who took a loss and blew a save in consecutive games in last weekend’s series against the Dodgers. Bradley last pitched on Tuesday, tossing a scoreless inning in a low-leverage situation against the Padres. He is in a bit of a rut, having allowed three runs on five hits and three walks over his last 3.1 innings, and Hirano and Andrew Chafin appear to be leapfrogging him in the Diamondbacks’ late-inning pecking order.

The other extra-inning game, featuring the Cubs and Nationals, was kinder to the closers involved. Joe Maddon did not wait for the visiting Cubs to take a lead in order to use Pedro Strop, as he went to him in the bottom of the ninth inning in a 4-4 game. Strop pitched a perfect frame, and with the Cubs scoring twice against Jimmy Cordero in the top of the 10th inning, Jesse Chavez was given a chance to register his fourth save of the season. Chavez survived a leadoff walk to Trea Turner and a one-out Anthony Rendon single to cement the win.

Neither Strop nor Chavez may have been used in this game if not for Justin Miller allowing the Cubs to tie the game in the eighth inning. Greg Holland followed Miller to pitch the top of the ninth, but his 1-2-3 inning merely kept the game tied, rather than presenting him with his second save.

Should the Nationals get a ninth-inning save opportunity in this series against the Cubs, it could belong to Sean Doolittle. He was scheduled to throw on Thursday, and depending on how he responds, he could be activated sometime this weekend.

Quick hits: Kirby Yates pitched a perfect ninth inning for the Padres with a 6-2 lead over the Reds. After enduring a difficult stretch in August, Yates has allowed only a walk over his last 3.2 innings while recording five strikeouts…Cody Allen has not pitched for a save in the ninth inning since blowing a save against the Royals on Aug. 24. However, he has been settling nicely into an eighth-inning setup role lately. On Thursday night, he pitched a scoreless eighth inning with a 6-4 lead against the Blue Jays. (For now, Allen is still listed in the grid as part of a closer committee.) Jason Kipnis‘ three-run homer in the top of the ninth meant the Indians did not need to use Brad Hand for a third straight game…Nate Jones (pronator strain) began a rehab assignment with Class A Winston Salem on Wednesday.