So, I’m listening to the A’s and Indians.  The A’s were leading 2-1 entering the top of the 7th.  I’m not exactly sure why, but the A’s brought in their closer, Sean Doolittle.  Doolittle ended up allowing the tying run.  The A’s announcers said that Doolittle would be charged with a blown save.  This is interesting and something I never thought of.

MLB rules state that a blown save will charged to a pitcher who enters the game with an opportunity to earn a save.

Here’s a link to the rule on wikipedia.

To earn a save a pitcher is required to:

That rule states the official scorer shall credit a pitcher with a save when such pitcher meets all four of the following conditions:

1. He is the finishing pitcher in a game won by his team;
2. He is not the winning pitcher;
3. He is credited with at least ? of an inning pitched; and
4. He satisfies one of the following conditions:

1.             He enters the game with a lead of no more than three runs and pitches for at least one inning
2.             He enters the game, regardless of the count, with the potential tying run either on base, at bat or on deck
3.             He pitches for at least three innings

So was Bob Melvin hoping that he could get his closer to pitch 3 innings?  Hmmmm, I’m not sure what’s going on but this seems a bit odd.

If there are any A’s fans out there that can help me with this, I’d appreciate it.

Update:  I think I got it.  Doolittle is not the closer, Balfour is.

“God, I love baseball.” – Roy Hobbs | The Natural