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It’s not how you start but how you finish That’s our theme for today. And with any luck (and a modest amount of perseverance), you will finish today’s effort.
Video of Ashley Salazar below. You’re welcome.
* For starters, we have big-league bullpens. If you said the Chicago White Sox had the worst one Friday night, you would be wrong. Not because the Sox didn’t lose to the Minnesota Twins (they did 5-4), but because there were other games in which the bullpen did much worse. Not that it’s much — if any — consolation to Sox fans who watched their team rally from a 4-2 deficit by scoring twice in the top half of the ninth inning on run-scoring hits by Paul Konerko and Adam Eaton.
* One team that didn’t have to worry about its bullpen — at least Friday — was the Cubs, who had four innings of scoreless relief of Edwin Jackson in a 6-3 victory against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Wrigley Field.
* The statistical-analysis department at ElliottHarris.com studied extra-inning losses and believes when both teams are using relievers in such contests, the bullpen takes the loss 100 percent of the time.
Anyway, some examples of bullpen woes from Friday:
* Seattle defeated host Kansas City 7-5 but only after the Royals rallied from a 5-0 deficit. Royals closer Greg Holland, who has 21 saves, allowed two ninth-inning runs and saw his earned-run average skyrocket to 1.88.e
* Atlanta closer Craig Kimbrel blew his fourth save of the season by allowing Washington to score two ninth-inning runs and tie the game 4-4. And he’s awfully good. The Braves did go on to win. The idea is not to give the opposing team enough runs to beat you.
* Baltimore took a 3-1 lead into the ninth inning at Yankee Stadium. New York rallied for a 5-3 victory that Carlos Beltran provided, with a two-out, three-run home run. Orioles closer Zach Britton (3-1) suffered his second blown save of the season in 11 opportunities. In yielding four runs, he had his ERA inflate to 1.64.
* And then there was Cincinnati’s 14-9 loss to visiting Toronto. The Jays tied the game at 9 with a run in the eighth before scoring five in the ninth — four of them off Aroldis Chapman (0-2). The Reds led 8-0 after two innings.
* San Diego rallied for three runs — all against closer Kenley Jansen, who has 20 saves — in the bottom of the ninth against the Los Angeles Dodgers for a 6-5 victory.
* If it helps at all (and the guess here is that it does not — for the teams that lost), there will be days when the teams with bullpens that one day appear invincible will blow leads and lose. It is the nature of the game. A word of advice (actually several words): Accept the reality that some days your team is going to rally to win and some days the opposing team is going to rally to win.
* Speaking of how you start (well we did make a mention at the start of today’s effort), the WNBA Chicago Sky started the season by winning its first five games for the best start in franchise history. With its 83-75 loss to the visiting Indiana Fever, the Sky has a 6-6 record. Elena Delle Donne, the 2013 WNBA Rookie of the Year, missed her fourth consecutive contest for the Sky because of Lyme disease. A return to health is by far more important than a return to a winning record. Without her (and center Sylvia Fowles, who has missed all of the season after hip surgery), it’s difficult to think the Sky’s season won’t be finished when the regular season end.
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