With Craig Kimbrel’s 37th save of the season Thursday night against the Giants, he moved four away from breaking Neftali Feliz’s major league record for saves in a season by a rookie.
He has Feliz in his sights now and doesn’t mind saying it’s a goal.
“If I get that chance it’s good, it means we’re playing winning baseball,” Kimbrel said Friday afternoon. “I don’t see why I wouldn’t because we are winning. I don’t want to blow any saves, so ...”
Kimbrel has some confidence — and rightly so. He hadn’t blown a save since June 8 in Florida, entering the weekend series with Arizona. Since then he had gone 19-for-19 in saves during a scoreless streak of 28 2/3 innings, the longest active streak by a pitcher in the majors.
During that streak, Kimbrel has walked only eight batters, compared to walking 15 in his first 32 innings this season. That has been a big factor in his transition from a rookie pitcher with a penchant for wildness to a dominant force.
“It’s just understanding I don’t have to try to throw it past everybody every pitch,” Kimbrel said. “Just try to throw strikes.”
Prado rest day
Martin Prado got the night off Friday, his first time out of the lineup since he returned from a staph infection after the All-Star break. Prado had played all 33 games since then.
Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said during this stretch of 17 consecutive games, he wanted to mix in off days for some regulars. He planned to rest Brian McCann on Saturday and Chipper Jones on Sunday.
It’s also a chance to get bench players some playing time. He wanted to get Eric Hinske a start this weekend.
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