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Thanks to a tip from King of the Hobos, I see that Saturday in baseball was A Day Without a Save.
There were 15 games played. And nary a save.
There were six blown saves.
Two of them in Cincinnati's 3-2 win over Colorado. One by Cincinnati's Gary Majewski and another by Colorado's Brian Fuentes, which resulted in a loss.
Two were in Pittsburgh's 7-6 win over Washington. Damaso Marte of the Pirates and Roy Corcoran of the Nats with the honors.
Brandon League of Toronto had a blown save in the Blue Jays 7-6, 14 inning win over Seattle. Chad Bradford of the Mets had the other in Cubs 9-2 win over New York. Minnesota had a close call, but scored two runs in the eighth to beat Cleveland 6-2.
The last day there was a full slate of games with no saves was September 15, 1978 when the 26 teams in the majors played 14 games. Texas and Oakland played a doubleheader.
That day featured five complete game shutouts: Dave Rozema of Detroit, Ron Guidry of New York, Alan Wirth of Oakland, Pete Comer of Texas (in the doubleheader), and Don Sutton of Los Angeles.
There were three blown saves: by Randy McGilberry of Kansas City (against the Angels), Tom Bruno of St. Louis (against Chicago), and Tug McGraw of Philadelphia (against the Mets).
I did some quick checking and while its true that for some teams, Atlanta and L.A. for instance, there is no question that there is a perception that save percentages have gone down since the testing began, in fact, they have stayed pretty much the same. However for Atlanta and the Dodgers, the loss of Smoltz and Gagne has impacted their pens more than they probably thought it would (certainly that is the case in Atlanta).
But, you must remember that whenever you see that team statistic, save opportunities arise anytime after the 5th inning with a lead of 3 runs or less, so that pitcher either gets a hold, or a save opportunity is blown.
Certainly, even Riveria gave up a couple of runs the other night but got the save, Hoffman and Turlow both blew saves last night. I thought the veins in Bobby Cox's neck were going to burst as he sat and watched his relievers blow save after save (the Atlanta broadcasters did blow it by saying that Sosa blew 2 saves, once he blew the first one, he was in line for the old "vultured" win but then he blew that too before Atlanta did win it eventually.)
BTW, there is a reason why you did not see Izzy from the Cards pitch today, he has blown several saves this year, Brad Lidge blew 2 in a role against the Dodgers, so while the odds are overwhelming to a team with the lead in the 9th inning, these days, no one can rightly say, game over.
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