Craig Kimbrel’s club-record streak of 10 consecutive relief appearances with at least two strikeouts came to an end Saturday night, but he pushed both his scoreless and walkless streaks to five games in notching his second save of the season. It came after Jason Heyward cracked the game open with a three-run shot against Josh Hader, followed by an Ildemaro Vargas solo jack, but the leverage was still plenty high for a pitchers who’s struggled in those situations so far.
Right on cue, Kimbrel allowed singles to the first two batters he faced and all the exultation from the previous half-inning was put on hold.