Jansen welcomes baby, notches 24th save

LOS ANGELES -- On the surface, Sunday was a big day for Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen. He recorded his first four-out save of the season as the Dodgers closed out a seven-game homestand at 5-2 with a 2-1 win over the Reds.

But long before anyone was at Dodger Stadium, Jansen was awake at 4 a.m., awaiting the birth of his second child. And just before 10 a.m., Jansen had an eight-pound, nine-ounce baby boy: Kaden Isaiah Jansen.

"I talked to her and Donnie and those guys and I wanted to come," Jansen said. "I'm going to come late but i'm going to come and pitch this game."

There was planning to the birth -- an induced labor on Sunday allowed Jansen to remain in Los Angeles and not miss any games.

"I don't have to go on the road and fly back and miss some games," Jansen said. "These are some very important games for us so I'm just trying to help us win some games."

After everything, Jansen showed up to Dodger Stadium around 15 minutes before the first pitch and entered with two outs in the eighth of a one-run game. The closer recorded four straight outs -- two via strikeout -- for his 24th save of the season.

"It's a very exciting day for me," Jansen said. "Even though I didn't have much sleep, I still go off the excitement and feed off that."

With the save, he passed Jeff Shaw for second all-time in saves in Dodgers history. Jansen has 130 saves in his career, still 31 behind Los Angeles' all-time leader, Eric Gagne.

"To be second in one of the most storied organizations, it feels great," Jansen said. "I'm trying to get as many saves as possible and it's all about winning for me. You're going to be recognized for winning championships and that's everybody's goal in here. So I'm focused on winning and not too much on stats."