Jonathan Broxton

That was the longest streak in team history since the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles in 1958.

Jonathan Roy Broxton (born June 16, 1984) is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher.

He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Kansas City Royals, Cincinnati Reds, Milwaukee Brewers and St. Louis Cardinals.

Broxton attended Burke County High School in Waynesboro, Georgia.

As a senior for the Bears, he posted a 9–2 record and a 1.21 earned run average as a pitcher.

As a hitter, he had a .596 batting average with seven home runs.

As a teenager, Broxton stood 6 ft tall, weighed 250 lb and was athletic enough to dunk a basketball with two hands.

The football coaches at his high school tried unsuccessfully to convince him to play football as a lineman.

Broxton committed to play college baseball at Georgia Southern.

He was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the second round in 2002 MLB draft and signed with them for $685,000 on June 30, 2002.

In the minor leagues, from 2002 to 2006, Broxton was 23–11 with 12 saves and a 3.03 ERA in 303 innings.

He struck out 332 batters, while walking 115 and giving up 244 hits.

His minor league teams were the Great Falls Dodgers of the Pioneer League, the South Georgia Waves of the South Atlantic League, the Vero Beach Dodgers of the Florida State League, and the "AA" Jacksonville Suns of the Southern League.

Broxton made his MLB debut on July 29, 2005, against the St. Louis Cardinals, pitching one inning in relief, allowing one run, and striking out two.

His first MLB strikeout victim was Cardinals Albert Pujols.

During the 2005 campaign, he appeared in 14 games, all in relief, striking out 22 batters in only 13 2⁄3 innings.

Broxton began the 2006 season with the Dodgers Triple-A affiliate, the Las Vegas 51s.

After allowing no runs in 11 appearances (with 18 strikeouts), on May 1, 2006, Broxton was recalled from the minors after the demotion of veteran Lance Carter.

After gradually gaining the confidence of manager Grady Little, Broxton became Takashi Saito's primary setup man, and the team's backup closer.

He held batters to a .159 Batting average with runners in scoring position, and held right-handed batters to a .196 batting average.

He appeared in a career-high 83 games for the Dodgers, third most in the National League and fourth most in franchise history.

He threw 99 strikeouts (second most among all big league relievers) and ranked fifth in the Majors with 32 holds.

His 2.85 ERA placed him as one of nine Major League pitchers with more than 75 innings pitched and an era below 3.78.

Broxton recorded 96 2⁄3 consecutive no-home-run innings from July 23, 2006, to August 21, 2007.

On July 19, 2008, Saito was placed on the disabled list (DL), and Broxton inherited the closer role for the remainder of the season.

He allowed a pinch hit two-run homer to Matt Stairs of the Philadelphia Phillies in the 8th inning of Game 4 of the 2008 NLCS.

In his first season as the full-time closer for the Dodgers, Broxton was selected to the National League All-Star team.

However, he was unable to play in the Game due to injury.

His final regular season record was 7–2 with a 2.61 ERA, 36 saves and 114 strikeouts.

Despite his accomplished season, he suffered a costly blown save in Game 4 of the 2009 National League Championship Series against the Philadelphia Phillies when he walked Matt Stairs, hit Carlos Ruiz with a pitch and then allowed a two out/two run walk off hit by Jimmy Rollins.

Broxton had an excellent first half of the season and was selected to the 2010 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, in which he recorded the save.

However, he faded in the second half, beginning with a blown save against the New York Yankees in which he threw 48 pitches and allowed 4 runs on 4 hits and 2 walks.

In somewhat of a repeat performance against the Phillies, he blew another 4-run lead on August 12, as this time it was Carlos Ruiz delivering the 2-run walk-off hit.

He was replaced as the closer at the end of the season by Hong-Chih Kuo.

Broxton returned to the closer role at the start of the 2011 season and appeared in 14 games in March and April, with a 5.68 ERA and 7 saves.

On May 4, he admitted that he had been feeling some pain in his elbow and he was placed on the disabled list.

After a couple of months off he made two rehab appearances with the AAA Albuquerque Isotopes on June 21 and 23 but felt tightness in his shoulder when throwing on June 25 and was shut down again.

He had hoped to return in September but manager Don Mattingly said that his return would be late, if he returned at all.

He had another setback after testing his elbow off a mound in September and was shut down for the season.

He became a free agent at the conclusion of the season.