Phillies' Kimbrel 8th pitcher to reach 400 saves

ATLANTA — Craig Kimbrel had a feeling this would be a special night, so he wanted about 30 to 40 family members and friends from Alabama to come watch him reach a rare milestone.

The hard-throwing closer became the eighth pitcher in major league history to earn 400 saves as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Atlanta Braves 6-4 on Friday.

“I’m happy it was here in Atlanta,” said Kimbrel, who began his career with the Braves. “I am happy the majority of my family was here to see it. Getting to take it in and enjoy it with them is great.”

Making his 730th career appearance, Kimbrel, 34, worked a scoreless ninth inning to get his sixth save in six chances this season. Of the seven previous relievers to reach 400 saves, only Mariano Rivera (697 games), Trevor Hoffman (706) and Kenley Jansen (778) reached the milestone in under 800 appearances.

Kimbrel, the 2011 NL Rookie of the Year, played his first five seasons in Atlanta, was a four-time All-Star with the Braves and still holds the franchise record with 186 saves. This is his first season with Philadelphia. Over his past 15 games since April 16, Kimbrel has faced 54 batters and has 26 strikeouts in 14 innings, but the right-hander has struggled at times this year with a 5.68 ERA.

Kimbrel grew up in Huntsville, Alabama, about a three-hour drive from Atlanta, and it was with the Braves that he broke through as one of the game’s most feared relievers. He has been named an All-Star eight times, and he helped the Boston Red Sox win the 2018 World Series.

He said he never set out to break records or join exclusive lists, but his career has worked out pretty well.

“My goal is to show up and get ready to pitch in those opportunities as much as I can,” Kimbrel said. “Always knowing I was closing games, I was hoping to get 35 to 40 a year doing my job, and that’s about it. It’s one year at a time, one save at a time.”

Brandon Marsh hit a go-ahead, two-run single in the sixth for Philadelphia.

Facing reliever Joe Jiménez (0-1) with the bases loaded, Marsh made it 4-3 with a single to left field that scored Nick Castellanos and J.T. Realmuto. The Phillies scored twice in the seventh off Lucas Luetge on Trea Turner‘s RBI double and Bryce Harper‘s sacrifice fly.

The NL-leading Braves dropped to 31-20. Philadelphia, stuck in fourth place in the NL East after advancing to the World Series last year, is 24-27. The Phillies are seven games back of Atlanta in the division standings.

For Kimbrel, the night was special because he got to celebrate with so many loved ones.

“They’ve been supporting me forever,” he said. “A lot of them were saying, ‘This feels weird celebrating here in Atlanta.’ It brought back a lot of memories, hanging out with the same group of people in the tunnel after the game and catching up.”

He said he wasn’t even nervous coming out of the bullpen, and he closed the game by getting Ronald Acuna Jr. on a grounder to third with a runner on.

“No, I was pretty locked in,” Kimbrel said. “I mean, I had a lot of chances to think about it. I’ve been sitting pretty close to this milestone for a while now and I’ve just been able to throw the ball well lately. I was really just worried about getting the win tonight, and once the final out was made I was able to relax.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.