It was hard for Red Sox closer Kenley Jansen to fathom what he accomplished at the end of Boston’s 5-2 win over the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday night at Truist Park.
After all, Jansen expected to be on the other side of the plate as he came up through the minors as a catcher.
But his transition into a relief pitcher has been nothing but successful and he has 400 career saves now as evidence. Only six other pitchers in Major League Baseball history have reached that feat and Jansen joined them with a scoreless ninth inning to close out the Braves and notch another win for the Red Sox.
“It’s surreal, man. Just crazy,” Jansen told reporters, as seen on NESN postgame coverage. “Like I said to them, the seventh guy who did that and baseball being for so long. It’s unbelievable. Just going to continue to let this motivate me and strive for more.”
Jansen added: “I never thought it was going to be this emotional, but this definitely hit bigger than all those other numbers that I got before. It means a lot.”
Hitting the milestone took on extra meaning for Jansen given the location. While the 35-year-old has spoken highly of the atmosphere at Fenway Park, the Curacao native watched Braves games growing up and idolized Andruw Jones. He also pitched for the Braves last season and was thrilled that the achievement came on the road against Atlanta.
“As much I wanted it to be at Fenway — that was my wish — it can’t be better that the team I grew up watching, grew up loving and I did it today here in their stadium,” Jansen said. “It can’t be even better than that.”
The moment didn’t overwhelm Jansen, either. Instead, it fueled him. The veteran right-hander worked around a one-out double from Eddie Rosario and then reared back, hitting 98.7 mph on the radar gun, which is the fastest pitch he has thrown in a game since August 2016, according to MLB.com’s Ian Browne. He then finished off his monumental save in terrific fashion by striking out Travis d’Arnaud swinging.
“I was locked in,” Jansen said. “At the end of the day, that’s an individual thing to accomplish. But at the end of the day we’re here to win ball games to accomplish to get to the playoffs and try to win a championship. … It definitely makes me more locked in. It was an unbelievable experience.”
The achievement for Jansen also spoke to the longevity of the 14-year pro and something Justin Turner, who estimated he has seen around 300 of Jansen’s saves after being teammates with him during their time with the Los Angeles Dodgers, marveled at.
“I think it’s just a testament to the work he’s put in and how much he cares and how much he desires to be great,” Justin Turner told reporters as seen on NESN postgame coverage. “It takes a special human to excel at his role for as long as he’s done it. Hats off to him. Couldn’t be more proud of him.”
Here are more notes from Wednesday’s Red Sox-Braves game:
— With the Red Sox activating James Paxton, who is set to start Friday, it seems like every starting pitcher is auditioning for a job in Boston’s crowded rotation. Brayan Bello could be the odd-man out given his roster flexibility but the 23-year-old came close to acing his test against the Braves.
Bello held Atlanta scoreless through the first five innings before allowing two runs in the sixth inning, which was his final frame. He also let up six hits in his outing while striking out five and walking one. And he certainly impressed Red Sox manager Alex Cora.
“The stuff was really good,” Cora told reporters, as seen on NESN postgame coverage. “Velocity was up, the change-up was playing, the slider was good against a great lineup.”
— Justin Turner made his first start of the season at third base with Rafael Devers beginning the game on the bench. The veteran leader was solid defensively, making a strong play on a tough grounder down the line from Sean Murphy in the bottom of the sixth inning. Turner then moved over to second base when Devers came into the game for the final three innings.
— Triston Casas is slowly finding his groove at the plate as he gave the Red Sox some much-needed insurance runs with a two-run blast in the top of the ninth. Casas’ fifth home run of the year came off Braves reliever Raisel Iglesias and traveled 442 feet into the stands in right field.
“I knew as soon as the bottom of the eight ended it was going to be (Jansen’s) night,” Casas told reporters as seen on NESN postgame coverage. “I knew Iglesias was coming into the game, so I know he’s got a reputation of one of the best closers in the game for a really long time. Wasn’t trying to go in there do too much. I was just trying to get my job done after Jarren (Duran) led off with a really nice double to left-center.”
— Boston finished its road trip 3-2.
— The Red Sox head back to Boston where they open a three-game series with the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night. First pitch from Fenway Park is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. ET, and you can watch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.
