Hand picked up his 12th save of the season Thursday, striking out two batters while allowing one run against the Cardinals.
While it wasn't pretty, as Hand served up a leadoff home run to Randal Grichuk to shrink San Diego's lead to one run, the lefty did manage to settle down to secure the victory Thursday. He induced a flyout from Carson Kelly before fanning Stephen Piscotty and Kolten Wong to close things out. Aside from a three-run meltdown in Cincinnati on Aug. 10, Hand hadn't allowed a run since June 14 (27 games) entering Thursday. Hand remains one of the more reliable closers in the game right now and he has a firm hold on the job despite Thursday's hiccup to Grichuk.