The Red Sox looked poised to win when Chris Sale left the game after eight innings of work and the 3-1 lead. Unfortunately, Boston dropped Saturday’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals when closer Kenley Jansen allowed three runs in the top of the ninth inning for the blown save.
For the second straight game, Jansen was tagged for three runs, two earned, by the Cardinals’ offense, giving the 35-year-old pitcher his third blown save of the season.
Jansen couldn’t seem to find a rhythm on the mound and being called for three pitching violations didn’t help with his focus.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora and Jansen both said on NESN’s postgame coverage the umpire called the violation because Jansen got set before the batter had both feet in the batter’s box. Jansen said having those violations messed with his concentration and ultimately his game.
“That’s clearly, you know, it’s just clearly telling me that they mess with me and it pays off,” Jansen told reporters.
Despite having the violations, Jansen took responsibility for the outing and not getting the job done to secure the win.
“Obviously, I’ve had two bad games. That’s what I can tell you,” Jansen said. “I can be honest with you and that can look bad, but at the end of the day you got to keep continuing to come out here. That’s why you get paid for. So, you’re gonna come and grind.”
