By Mark Soltau
SportsLine Senior Writer

Even with struggles, Nen is dominating

Honor Roll Rankings

In Monday night's series opener at 3Com Park, he struck out the side in the ninth inning, fanning the heart of the order -- Chipper Jones, Brian Jordan and Ryan Klesko -- to notch his National League-leading 12th save in the Giants' 4-1 win. Nen threw another scoreless ninth in Tuesday night's four-hour, 9-8 marathon defeat.

He has converted 12 of 13 save opportunities and finished 18 games, tops in the majors.

Robb Nen has an NL-best 12 saves for the Giants.(Allsport)

Nen has 25 strikeouts in 18.2 innings, basically blowing away batters with his devastating one-two punch: a 97-mile-per-hour fastball and 90 mph slider. The type of stuff that lands him on this week's Honor Roll.

"He has dominating, over-powering stuff,'' said Giants catcher Scott Servais. "He's not a lot of fun to hit off.''

Actually, during a recent four-game stretch, Nen looked surprisingly vulnerable. He allowed runs in four consecutive games and squandered an 8-5 lead in the ninth inning at Pittsburgh, his lone blown save of the season.

Needless to say, Nen wasn't pleased. Especially with Barry Bonds sidelined until at least July with an elbow injury.

The immediate fear was that the 29-year-old Nen might have arm trouble. During Spring Training, he took a week off because of a sore throwing elbow. When questioned, he told reporters there was nothing wrong and the subject became off limits.

After holding opponents scoreless in eight of the first nine games, Nen has been touched for runs in five of his last 10, raising more concerns.

"He got a little bit mechanical,'' Servais said.

Nen agreed. Tuesday, he walked the leadoff batter for the second straight night.

"I'm not even close to being in the groove,'' he said. "The glide step is getting me out of a lot of jams. That's what's saving me right now.''

Nen sounded more frustrated than discouraged. Acquired by the Giants from the Florida Marlins prior to last season, Nen isn't used to struggling. A year ago he recorded a career-best 40 saves and 1.52 ERA, held batters to a .180 average, and was selected to the All-Star team for the first time. He was especially tough at home, converting all 23 save opportunities with a 0.43 ERA.

"He's a pretty quiet guy,'' said second baseman Jeff Kent, who occupies a locker next to Nen. "He's all business. You have to have a heart of stone to be a closer. You can't be too emotional.''

For a man who has become one of the best relievers in the game, Nen is no prima donna. On the contrary, he interacts with teammates and doesn't have a big head.

"A lot of times closers go off and do their own thing,'' Servais said. "He doesn't do that and I think that's appreciated by the other guys. His ego is in check.''

With Monday's save, Nen now has 160 career saves, the 33rd most in Major League history. Not bad for a guy who was taken in the 32nd round of the 1987 draft by Texas.

Nen spent four years with the Marlins, helping them win the World Series in 1997. He set franchise records for career saves (108) and appearances (268) before coming to the Giants in Florida's post-championship fire-sale.

"They talked about it at the end of the year,'' Nen said. "No one really thought it was going to be that extreme. When Moises (Alou) was traded, we knew everybody was going to be gone.''

Nen, whose father, Dick, was a first baseman for the Dodgers, Senators and Cubs from 1963-70, was a late bloomer. He attended Los Alamitos High School in southern California with current teammate J.T. Snow, both playing football and baseball. For Nen, the latter was his only professional option.

"I was 6-1, 175 pounds and a slow white guy,'' he said. "For me, this was the way to continue.''

Nen is signed through next season and is happy to be playing in San Francisco. Sure, the weather can be a pain, but he likes the makeup of the Giants.

"I love it here,'' said Nen. "It's close to home, it's a great place to play if you can get loose, and Bake (manager Dusty Baker) is one of the best in the league, if not the best.''

While he might look like his old, intimidating self to the rest of the league, Nen isn't satisfied, no matter what his numbers say. He escaped serious trouble Tuesday night by inducing Jones to hit into a double-play and thinks he may have found something.

"Hopefully,'' he said. "We'll see.''