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Strickland was charged with a blown save Thursday versus the Rockies after he allowed two runs on a hit and a walk during the ninth inning. He had one strikeout.
The 35-year-old recorded his first save of the season in Tuesday's series opener and was called upon again Thursday, but he gave up a two-out, two-run homer to Jake Cave to tie the game at 4-4. Ben Joyce seemed poised to take over as the Angels' closer after the trades of Carlos Estevez and Luis Garcia, but manager Ron Washington has instead turned to the veteran Strickland. According to Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register, Joyce is still considered the club's closer of the future, but Strickland will receive first crack at the ninth inning until Washington feels Joyce is ready for the job. Even including Thursday's blown save, Strickland has pitched well this season with a 3.35 ERA, 0.98 WHIP and 42:14 K:BB across 51 innings.
