Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Kenley Jansen earned his 162nd career save in Monday’s 4-1 win over the Washington Nationals, and he passed Eric Gagne to take sole possession of first place atop the franchise’s all-time saves list, per MLB Stat of the Day.
Monday’s game was expected to feature a duel between Dodgers lefty Clayton Kershaw and Nationals right-hander Stephen Strasburg, but the latter was scratched from his start due to an upper back strain, per Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post.
Yusmeiro Petit replaced Strasburg, and the 31-year-old Venezuelan struck out five batters and allowed three runs over six innings to notch a quality start, yet he was unsurprisingly outdueled by Kershaw.
The three-time Cy Young Award winner tossed seven strong innings, fanning eight batters while allowing one run on six hits.
Kershaw didn’t surrender any walks, which leaves him with an absurd 141-to-7 strikeout-to-walk ratio for the season.
Jansen got one of his easier save opportunities of the year, as he entered for the bottom of the ninth with his team holding a 4-1 lead.
He proceeded to strike out first baseman Ryan Zimmerman and catcher Wilson Ramos, then he finished the game by inducing a groundout from third baseman Anthony Rendon.
The 28-year-old Jansen is enjoying arguably the finest season of his career, having converted 20 of his 23 save opportunities while posting a 1.53 ERA and 0.72 WHIP in 31 appearances (29.1 innings), with 35 strikeouts and only four walks.
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