MacDougal Strikes out Side for Save

Well, that didn't take long.

Just yesterday, we reported that the Royals' interim manager Bob Schaefer was considering using Mike MacDougal as his closer. Today, with a 7-4 lead, MacDougal got the call, and struck out the side for his second save. No word on whether he's been officially tabbed as closer, or whether he could potentially keep the role after Jeremy Affeldt returns (seriously, Royals pitching is a mess right now...), but we'll keep you posted.

IN OTHER NEWS

Angels' closer K-Rod is dinged up with a mild forearm strain, and Scott Shields has vultured 4 saves already, which would actually lead the Royals. By 2. K-Rod may return this weekend.

Brandon Lyon is on the DL, and Brian Bruney is closing in Arizona. Lyon's injury isn't related to his TJ surgery, so he'll probably return as soon as he's eligible, or shortly thereafter.

Joe Borowski pitched two scoreless at AAA Iowa, and will presumably join the Cubs immediately. Ryan Dempster will probably continue to close games in the short term, but odds are that Borowski will be pitching in the ninth before too long.

And most importantly, Eric Gagne is back, and looks like he's fully recovered.

Back Around the Horn

Tyler Walker Closing in San Francisco

It appears that the Giants have settled on Tyler Walker as their replacement for Armando Benitez in the ninth. SFgate.com notes that while Walker had control problems earlier in the year, walking 11 men in his first 14 2/3 innings, he's settled down enough to pick up saves in his last two appearances.

Royals Make it Official - "No One" is their Closer

The Royals finally made it official this week - they have no closer. Ambiorix Burgos has been flat-out rocked in his last three appearances, Jeremy Affeldt is still nursing a strained groin (eww, I need an editor), and fireballers Andrew Sisco and Mike MacDougal haven't stepped up, either. Interim Royals manager Bob Schaefer has used the soft-throwing Mike Wood to close out the Royals two most recent saves, after initially tabbing Burgos and Sisco to start the ninth, and watching them struggle.

Schaefer hinted that MacDougal might get another shot to close, noting that "MacDougal is getting closer to getting his job back. We just need consistency out of him. Last time he came in, got two strikeouts and threw some real quality pitches with command."

Fuentes Closing in Colorado - Tsao May Miss Season

Chin-Hui Tsao is back on the DL with trouble in the same shoulder that sidelined him during April. In fact, there is speculation that he's torn his labrum, which would end his season. For the moment, Brian Fuentes will be the Rockies' closer. He's been tough this season - 2.65 ERA, .170 batting-average against - but his K/9 rate is down in the early going. He has 12 strikeouts in 17 innings, while he's struck out more than a batter per inning during his career.

Still, as we noted during the preseason, Fuentes is the best reliever that the Rocks have. Given an opportunity to close, he could be productive.

Tsao back to the DL, Ambiorix struggles, Wood to close?

While I hate to see this site exclusively focused on the closing situation for the likes of the Rockies and Royals and Cubs, that's where the action has been lately.

In Colorado, Chin-Hui Tsao is back on the DL with an inflamed right shoulder - the same problem that sidelined him earlier in the season. Brian Fuentes will close games until Tsao returns.

In KC, Ambiorix Burgos has really struggled in his last two outings, and has watched his ERA shoot up from 1.35 to 8.31. (Now that's struggling!) Burgos has shown flashes of brilliance, but has been rocked twice after going 2.2 scoreless for a win on May 8 vs. the Orioles.

On both sides of Chicago, no one knows who is the closer. For the Sox, it's whoever Guillen calls on for a particular day, and more often than not, Shingo & Hermanson have gotten the job done. Hermanson has picked up saves in 6 of his last 7 appearances, and Hermanson and Takatsu both have notched 8 saves. Damaso Marte has also featured into the mix, especially when lefties are due up in the 9th.

On the northside, everyone's waiting for Joe Borowski to return. He tossed another scoreless inning at AAA on Saturday... it's been a while since a Cub reliever has done that. Meanwhile, the Cubs have downplayed persistent rumors that Kerry Wood may be moved to the pen for the balance of the season. Sorta. Pitching coach Larry Rothschild's non-denial denial went something like this: "If you're going to do that, you're going to do it the rest of the year. That would be a major decision. First we have to get him healthy to talk about that."