Fastball

Boston Red Sox Earn Pivotal Win as Closer Moves Up All-Time Saves List

The Boston Red Sox are now within 0.5 games of the third wild card spot in the American League after a big win on Tuesday night against the Kansas City Royals. With the victory, closer Kenley Jansen passed another name on the all-time saves list.

Brady Farkas

Boston Red Sox pitcher Kenley Jansen (74) pitches during the ninth inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium on Aug. 6.
Boston Red Sox pitcher Kenley Jansen (74) pitches during the ninth inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium on Aug. 6. / William Purnell-USA TODAY Sports
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The Boston Red Sox beat the Kansas City Royals in game two of a crucial three-game set on Tuesday night at Kauffman Stadium. With the win, the Red Sox are now just 0.5 games back of the Royals in the wild card race, and they also hold the season tie-breaker over Kansas City should those two teams finish at the end of the year in a tie.

Offensively, the Red Sox got a home run from Masataka Yoshida in the win. After a slow start, he's come on lately and is now hitting .279 after the 2-for-5 day. On the mound, Bryan Bello went 4.2 innings, allowing three earned runs on five hits. He struck out six.

Closer Kenley Jansen recorded his 21st save of the year by pitching a scoreless back end of the eighth and ninth inning. He struck out the side in the ninth after also getting an out in the eighth. He has a 2.95 ERA and moved up the all-times saves list as well.

Per @SoxNotes on social media:

Most saves in MLB history:

HOF Mariano Rivera 652
HOF Trevor Hoffman 601
HOF Lee Smith 478
Kenley Jansen 441
Craig Kimbrel 440

Since Kimbrel is still active also, he and Jansen frequently flip-flop positions. Either way, it's good to see Jansen in the fourth all-time spot surrounded by Hall of Famers. He'll absolutely have a case to be a Hall of Famer as well when his career ends.

The 36-year-old is in the 15th year of his career with the Dodgers, Braves and Red Sox. He has a 2.54 lifetime ERA.

The Red Sox and Royals will play again on Wednesday at 8:10 p.m. ET.

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Brady Farkas

BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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