August 26, 2014
Boston Red Sox — Koji Uehara entered the ninth with a 3-0 lead and a bases loaded jam from which to escape, but exited having blown his fourth save of the year. After the Sox regained the lead in the 10th, Craig Breslow came on for his first save of the season. Following the game, manager John Farrell was asked about the possibility of shutting Koji down. He said they haven’t considered it yet, but that may change as the Sox enter September in last place.
Hierarchy remains: Uehara | Mujica | Tazawa.
Oakland A’s – The A’s had just a 3-2 lead entering the ninth and Eric O’Flaherty was warming for his first save chance since Sean Doolittle landed on the DL. However, Oakland scored five runs in the top half of the final frame and O’Flaherty recorded the final three outs in a non-save setting. Melvin mentioned in his postgame comments that he didn’t want to get O’Flaherty warmed up and not use him. He’s still at the top of our hierarchy, but we’ll see if Melvin gets another committee member some ninth-inning reps.
Hierarchy remains: O’Flaherty | Cook | Gregerson.
VULTURE SAVE WATCH
1. Adam Ottavino, Colorado Rockies – LaTroy Hawkins has pitched in three straight games.
2. Ken Giles, Philadelphia Phillies – Jonathan Papelbon has pitched in three of the last four games, throwing 49 pitches in the process.
3. Neal Cotts, Texas Rangers – Neftali Feliz has hurled 17 pitches in each of the last two contests.
