Nationals' Jonathan Papelbon: Pulled from Thursday's save chance

Papelbon was yanked with one out in the ninth inning Thursday against the Giants after allowing a hit and a walk. He was ultimately charged with a run.

Oliver Perez and finally Shawn Kelley ended up piecing together the save, but first, one of Papelbon's baserunners scored on an error. The 35-year-old has unraveled recently, pitching a total of exactly one inning in his last three appearances while allowing eight runs (seven earned) with a 1:4 K:BB. Papelbon was already barely clinging to his job as the Nationals' closer, and it wouldn't be surprising to see him get displaced by Kelley on a permanent basis.