Chad

Green

It would have been a save, but the Jays scored one run in the top of the ninth. This makes two positive outings in a row for Green after he gave up 11 runs in his first five appearances of September. He remains the clear favorite for saves in Toronto.

Green hadn’t saved a game since August 29th before Sunday and blew three with three losses in the process. He did his best to fumble this one as well as the Cardinals had runners on first and second before Jordan Walker popped out to end the game. Saves are scarce this time of year, but Green is riskier than most.

The one hit Green gave up should have been an error on Luis De Los Santos at third, but Green followed that up by walking three batters and giving up two sac flies. After Green left with the Jays down 3-1, Francisco Alvarez homered off Génesis Cabrera. We wouldn’t be stunned if three of Green’s four runs are declared unearned in a scoring change. Still, he’s had a miserable run of late, giving up 11 runs in five appearances, and he might be in line to lose save chances to Cabrera.

A little confidence builder for Green after he took blown saves in three straight outings from Sept. 1-8. He was perfect tonight, striking out one of the three batters he faced.

Green was 16-for-16 saving games coming into September, but he’s given up seven runs in 2 2/3 innings this month. To be fair, today wasn’t nearly as bad as the first two, as the runs scored on a couple of singles and a sac fly. He’s still probably the Jays’ closer for now. It’s not like they have anyone else they’d want to take over the job.

Green came into the game in the ninth with the Blue Jays up 9-8 and promptly gave up a single, double, and home run to allow the Phillies to take a 10-8 lead. He would then strike out the next two batters, but the damage was done by then. Green has been tremendous for the Blue Jays this year, so this was just a blip against a great offense.

Green’s save was his 16th of the season. He threw a perfect ninth inning and lowered his ERA to 1.61 on the year. Green has quietly been one of the best closers to earn the job during the season. He’s had eight saves and a win in August alone, which is massive production for fantasy managers. Green has three loses this year from entering tie games meaning he hasn’t blown a lead for Toronto all year.

It technically goes down as a save for Little as he came on to record the final out of the eighth inning in relief of Toronto starter José Berríos and came back out to spin a flawless final frame, protecting a four-run margin at the time. The 28-year-old southpaw got the call because veteran Chad Green had pitched twice in the last three days and was presumably unavailable due to workload reasons.

Green worked around a double from Masataka Yoshida that would have been a homer in 17 ballparks. Double or homer really didn’t matter much, though, since this was a three-run game. It’s Green’s third appearance in four days, so we wouldn’t expect him to be available in the nightcap and perhaps not on Tuesday.

Bowden Francis started the ninth inning with a three-run lead looking to complete a no-hitter. After Ward took Francis deep to lead off the frame, Green stepped in to close it out, striking out one batter in a perfect frame for his 14th save.