Thu 7/21/11 12:04 AM

Closer Fernando Salas took the loss in St. Louis' 6-5, 10-inning setback in New York on Wednesday evening. Salas pitched an uneventful ninth before serving up a walkoff home run to Angel Pagan with one out in the 10th. Salas has consistently struggled in outings where he's been called on to pitch more than one inning this season, so it's surprising he was sent back out for the 10th by manager Tony La Russa. Clearly the best reliever in St. Louis' bullpen, Salas' recent struggles won't cost him his closing gig at the expense of a current teammate, but it's hard to believe the Cardinals aren't actively scouring the market for a veteran reliever with closing experience.