Despite the return of closer Huston Street to the active roster, Rafael Betancourt remained at closer for the Colorado Rockies last week. Betancourt blew a save on Saturday night, but then got the ball again on Sunday and converted the save chance with a scoreless inning. The run allowed by Betancourt was his first earned run he surrendered so far in the second half of the season in 19 innings. Street will likely return to the closer role once he is back to full strength, but Betancourt should be able to grab some saves for at least week.
Mark Melancon has been struggling of late for the Houston Astros with two blown saves and a loss in his last eight appearances. With the Astros so far out of contention, the team really has no reason to remove Melancon from the role and instead let him work through his issues in order to see if he is a viable candidate to close in 2012. Wilton Lopez would like get some save chances if the Astros decided to make a move at some point.
Closer Leo Nunez in Florida has gone into the tank the second half of the season, blowing saves in two of his last three appearances and allowing nine runs over 2 2/3 innings. Steve Chisek picked up two saves last week in place of Nunez and could get a look going forward with a 2,79 ERA and 1.17 WHIP for the season.
Despite the overall stellar numbers of Fernando Salas, he has blown his last two save chances and there are rumblings that Jason Motte could see some chances the remainder of the season. Motte has worked 17 scoreless innings since the All-Star break with a 0.34 WHIP and 13 strikeouts in 17 2/3 innings.
