Kim converted his first regular-season save opportunity against the Pirates on Friday, hurling one inning and giving up two runs (one earned) on two hits. He did not register any walks or strikeouts.
Kim entered the ninth inning with a three-run lead and nearly gave it all back as the Pirates plated a pair of scores in the frame. The fault can't be placed entirely on Kim -- the inning began with a fielding error by Tommy Edman -- but it certainly wasn't a spectacular outing by the recently-anointed St. Louis closer. The good news is that Kim recovered to nail down the save after the first three Pittsburgh batters reached base, so perhaps he just needed to get Opening Day jitters out of the way. Kim's hold on the closer role is far from secure, so it would be wise to pay close attention to how he performs his next time out.