MIAMI — Braves closer Craig Kimbrel needs one save to break John Smoltz's franchise career record, and the chances of doing it in Atlanta improved greatly when Kimbrel was held out of Sunday's series finale against the Marlins.,
Kimbrel had pitched in each of the previous three days, and manager Fredi Gonzalez doesn’t want to risk overuse by having Kimbrel pitch four consecutive games.
That means Kimbrel, who matched Smoltz’s career record with his 154th save in Saturday’s win against the Marlins, has two potential chances to set the record this week at Turner Field before the Braves go back out on the road. They have a two-game series Tuesday and Wednesday against Seattle between off days in the schedule Monday and Thursday.
If Kimbrel doesn’t get the record this week, chances are it will happen on the road: The Braves start a seven-game trip to Arizona and Colorado on Friday with the first of three against the Diamondbacks in Phoenix.
On may 18, Kimbrel became the young pitcher in major league history to record his 150th save when he did it at 25 years, 355 days. In his past 15 appearances, he’s allowed one run, six hits and seven walks with 24 strikeouts in 14 innings.
In 76 appearances since May 9, Kimbrel has a 0.97 ERA with 114 strikeouts and a .154 opponents’ average in 74 innings. He has allowed 40 hits, eight earned runs, one homer and 26 walks in that span.
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