Jansen helps bullpen mates with first six-out save
When Kenley Jansen exits the bullpen at Fenway, you can feel the excitement and anticipation build in the crowd — Red sox fans know just how reliable he is.
Jansen pitched two innings of relief for the second time this season, his 19th save of the year securing sunday’s 5-4 win over the Royals. He recorded the first six-out regularseason save of his career, and his three eighth-inning strikeouts pushed him to sixth all-time among relief pitchers with 1,197.
“For all the people who were doubting him and kind of crushing him before the season, the guy, he’s one of the best closers in the history of the game,” manager Alex cora said.
Jansen got the sense he might end up working overtime. First, there was the text he got from pitching coach Andrew Bailey. Then there was the look he got in the dugout from cora.
communication between the 36-year-old righthander and sox staff is a two-way street, and it’s kept them on the same page throughout the season. Jansen hadn’t pitched since July 7 in New York when he threw against the Yankees for his 438th save, moving him to fourth on the all-time list. If anything, he was well rested.
cora’s goal was simply to get the ball in Jansen’s glove for the ninth — as it turned out, Jansen was ready for an extra inning of work. With chris Martin and Justin slaten on the injured list for elbow inflammation, Jansen knew he could be in for more than just the ninth.
“Our relievers have been doing a great job but also, they’ve been throwing a lot of innings,” Jansen said. “so I think it was a great day to pick all my guys up.”
Jansen replaced Brennan Bernardino, who stepped in for starter Brayan Bello in the seventh. Jansen gave up a run on two hits and a walk, but Boston’s defense was quick to back him up, especially cedanne Rafaela, who switched from shortstop to center field in the eighth inning.
Rafaela fielded a Freddy Fermin line drive and launched the ball to Rafael Devers at third base to get Garrett Hampson for the second out of the ninth. It kept the tying run on second.
“When [Rafaela got] that out at third, it was a huge boost,” Jansen said. “so he boosted me up and I got out of the inning.”
After Jansen took care of Vinnie Pasquantino for the second strikeout of the eighth inning, he got salvador Perez to end the inning and surpass former Boston pitcher Billy Wagner, who missed the Hall of Fame this year by just five votes.
Moving up on the strikeout list had more of an effect on Jansen than his first six-out regular-season save, which he thought he’d already done.
“It’s a huge honor. Wagner is still, to me, the best lefty to ever do it as a reliever,” Jansen said. “For my name to be there now is just, it’s awesome. It feels unbelievable and that all [will] be a motivation for me to just get in the gym tomorrow when I get home, put in some work, get that body right and you’ll be ready for anything.”
The sox moved 11 games over .500 sunday. Like his team, Jansen has silenced some doubters.
“It’s basically proving everybody wrong,” he explained. “We need to stay hungry, be humble, stay hungry, play hard and be quiet about it and keep proving, man. Just keep proving everybody wrong.”