Kenley Jansen Sets New Saves Record In Dodgers Win
- Updated: June 21, 2016
On a night where Clayton Kershaw and Stephen Strasburg were supposed to duel, the Broadway matchup took a backseat after Strasburg was scratched from the game due to an upper-body injury. Enter Kenley Jansen who completed his run at franchise history.
Behind another solid performance from Kershaw, Jansen entered the game in the ninth inning to close out the 4-1 win and surpassed Eric Gagne to become the all-time saves leader in Dodgers history.
“I’m thankful to be a part of the Dodgers organization and I’m finally glad that I can stop thinking about the record,” Jansen said. “The fact that I passed (Gagne) one of the All-time great relievers in the league is amazing.”
The reemergence of Justin Turner continued as he started the game by hitting a solo home run over the center field wall to give the Dodgers the lead. Turner added another RBI in the fourth inning. Turner now has 11 RBI’s in his past eight games.
Kershaw meanwhile continued his dominance going seven innings , eight strikeouts in the game well haunting Bryce Harper at the plate, striking out the reigning MVP in all three at-bats Harper faced him. Kershaw.
“I felt that I was ok,” Kershaw said. “I got off to a little bit of a slow start but then continued to work.”
Manager Dave Roberts who played with Eric Gagne as a player marveled at Jansen’s performance in comparison to the dominance his former teammate pitched with.
“When Eric pitched, he was something else to watch.” Roberts said. “To do what Kenley did is special.”
The Dodgers moved within five in a half games back behind the Giants who lost to the Pirates 1-0.
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