The inevitable finally happened, as Francisco Rodriguez has just tied the single season saves record with his 57th save against the Seattle Mariners. Bobby Thigpen had held the saves record alone since 1990, and since then John Smoltz and Eric Gagne had come close in 2002 and 2003, but now Rodriguez has caught Thigpen and is getting ready to pass him with about two and a half weeks to go.
It was a strange save in that the Angels were up 7-0 in the eighth inning, and Frankie was seemingly headed for a rest tonight. But Justin Speier gave up three in the eighth, and Scot Shields let a couple of runners on in the ninth to give Rodriguez the save opportunity. And after inducing Ichiro Suzuki into a double play, the task seemed easy. But K-Rod still had to endure a couple of base hits (the first of which brought in a run) before getting Raul Ibanez to ground out to first to gain a seat at Thigpen's table.
Stat oddity: Rodriguez's 57th save came against the Mariners ... who have 57 wins.
