The Los Angeles Dodgers used 10 pitchers in their 16-inning marathon win over the San Diego Padres, and among them was Kenley Jansen, who tossed a scoreless ninth to keep the score tied at 1-1.
It was the right-hander’s second appearance in as many days as Jansen notched his 28th save of the season in Tuesday’s series opener at Petco Park. Jansen was just as effective on the back-to-back, retiring all three batters faced on just 13 pitches.
He began the inning by getting Manny Machado to fly out, then induced a ground ball from Jake Cronenworth. Jansen completed his only inning of the night by striking out Austin Nola looking on a slider that caught the outside corner.
It was the 1,000th strikeout of Jansen’s career, as he became just the 12th reliever in MLB history to reach that mark. “It adds to his souvenir collection. That’s a great milestone,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after the game.
“It just shows he’s withstood the test of time. To accrue 1,000 strikeouts with the same team, it’s a short list of guys that have done that, and both are in the Hall of Fame. Congratulations to Kenley, and I’m very lucky to be a part of it.”
As Roberts noted, all 1,000 of Jansen’s strikeouts have come with the Dodgers. That is the third-highest total in relief for one team, trailing only Mariano Rivera’s 1,135 strikeouts with the New York Yankees, and Trevor Hoffman’s 1,029 with the Padres.
Jansen, in the midst of his 12th big league season, is the longest-tenured player in the Dodgers organization. He previously reached another impressive milestone this year with his 321st career save against the Arizona Diamondbacks on May 19.
That moved him into sole possession of third place for most saves with a single team in MLB history. He is behind only Rivera’s 652 with the Yankees and Hoffman’s 552 with the Padres.
Jansen already is the Dodgers’ all-time saves leader with 340 and counting. He has converted 29 of 34 opportunities this season and owns a 2.75 ERA in 52 appearances.
Why Roberts won’t replace Jansen with Treinen as Dodgers closer
While Jansen has enjoyed a solid season for the most part, one could argue that Blake Treinen has been the Dodgers’ most valuable reliever this year.
Some have called for Treinen to take over the closer role but Roberts doesn’t believe that would benefit the Dodgers. “With Blake, we’ve used him in leverage — call it the fifth inning, sixth inning, seventh inning — and a certain part of the lineup,” Roberts recently said.
“Being a fireman and be able to go one-plus, I think has allowed us to win a lot of ballgames.”
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