LOS ANGELES -- It was the ninth inning, his Los Angeles Dodgers were leading by a run, and Kenley Jansen reared back and overmatched Randal Grichuk with three consecutive cutters on Wednesday night. The turn of events emboldened Jansen, instantly bringing him back to another time, when his cutter was virtually unhittable and secondary pitches were often unnecessary.
"F--- it, it's here," Jansen thought. "Let's go."
Six of Jansen's next eight pitches were, predictably, cutters. The last of those -- traveling 93 mph, tailing middle-in -- was sent well over the right-field fence for a game-tying home run by Toronto Blue Jays slugger Rowdy Tellez, handing Jansen another blown save in what has become another turbulent season.