Braves closer Craig Kimbrel was called on to stem the bleeding late in Thursday's game against the Red Sox, but the defense behind him let him down in a 4-3 loss.
Kimbrel entered a tied game in the eighth innings with runners on first and second, after the Red Sox rallied to tie the game. He got out of the inning with ease, and came back out for the bottom of the ninth with the game tied, in an attempt to send it to extra innings.
Kimbrel walked the first two batters he faced in the innings, but seemed like he might have gotten nearly out of a jam with a groundball to third. Unfortunately, second baseman Tommy La Stella had trouble fielding a potential double play ball, which allowed the runner to advance from second home, scoring the winning run.
Kimbrel took his first loss of the season in the outing, while allowing one run and recording one out. The game raised his ERA nearly half a run, to 2.41.