Around the Horn

Looks like Jim Brower is the man in San Francisco, at least for now. Of course, he blew last night's save, so Felipe Alou may call a different name for the next save opportunity. It's not like any one of SF's myriad journeyman middle relievers is really any better than the rest of them.

Todd Jones picked up a save in Florida, owing to the fact that Guillermo Mota AND Antonio Alfonseca are on the DL. The injury to the former hurts the Fish's chances, but the injury to the latter spared all of South Florida from the spectacle of Pulpo in the 9th inning.

As John Hill at the Cub Reporter noted yesterday, the Reds bullpen picked up what has to be the most hilarious blown save of all time, allowing the Cards to come back from a 9-3 deficit... with most of the damage coming with two outs. Cincinnati relied on the twin scourges of David Weathers and Danny Graves to handle the ninth inning - a combo who, you may recall, combined for the weakest save ever recorded.

It should be only a matter of time until Ryan Wagner takes over as the primary closer in Cincinnati. Danny Graves has allowed a run in 7 of his last 9 appearances, (although he's somehow picked up saves in 7 of those outings), which simply isn't going to work over the long haul. Then again, Graves has been on the verge of losing the Cincinnati closer job for years, and it never seems to happen.

No other movement on the closer carousel, but for a while there, it looked like Ryan Dempster may have been headed for the Cubs bullpen, and rumors were circulating that he could even be the closer. Kerry Wood's injury put and end to that talk. Not that LaTroy Hawkins fantasy owners can rest easy - Joe Borowski will make his first appearance at AAA Iowa today, and every indication points to JoBo returning to the closer role as soon as he's able. We'll keep you posted.