Graduated from Spiro (Okla.) High School in 1991...wasAll-State in baseball...attended Seminole Junior College (Okla) where he went 20-0 in two seasons...was drafted by the Mariners following the 1992 collegiate season but returned to school and pitched before signing in 1993...at SJC in 1993 went 12-0, 2.99 and was named a Junior College All-American...in the 2000 Sydney Olympics went 3-0, 0.00 in four apps to help Team USA win the Gold Medal...his three victories tied the Team USA Olympic record (Seth Greisinger, 1996)...in USA's 13-inning, 4-2 win over Japan threw 4.0 scoreless innings to earn the win...also earned the decision in the 4-2 victory over Italy that advanced Team USA to the medal round...he and his wife, Angie, have one son, Logan (7/22/97), and two daughters, Kaylin (1/26/00) and Teegan (7/19/04) and reside in Shawnee, Okla.
2010Saved 27 of 29 games, his second best single season save total. Ranked 2nd in the NL (4th, MLB) in save percentage (93.1)...His six wins T7th among NL relief pitchers. His .750 winning pct. (6-2) was his best mark since going 5-1 (.833) in 2000 with Seattle...Was 27-for-28 in save opportunities requiring three outs or less...His 10 walks in 65.1 IP was the 4th fewest in MLB of pitchers with 60 IP or more. Ranked 4th in the NL among relief pitchers in fewest walks per 9 IP with 1.38...Ranked 6th in the N.L. with 51 games finished...Retired 71% of first batters faced, tops among Cardinals relievers...Moved past Dennis Eckersley into 5th place on the Cardinals all-time save list with 83...Made six 2.0 IP appearances, including two wins (5/23 & 7/25). Was 4-of-5 in save opportunities requiring four outs or more...Posted a 4-0 record with a 2.43 ERA and was a perfect 14-for-14 in save opportunities at home...Has been 7-for-7 in save opportunites in April each of the last two years.2009Took hold of the closer's role in April and put together an All-Star campaign, finishing tied for sixth in the Majors with 38 saves...His 38 saves were most by a Cardinal since Jason Isringhausen rescued 39 in 2005...Converted 38 of 43 save opps., the 5th best single-season conversion rate among STL closers with 30 or more saves...Converted 13 straight save opps. from 8/7-/9/5, the 2nd longest streak by a Cardinal, trailing only Lee Smith's 17-straight ('93)...His 1.92 ERA was 2nd only to Brewers' Trevor Hoffman among N.L. closers. Had 0.79 ERA prior to All-Star break...Did not allow any HR's following All-Star break and just two on the year total...He had seven saves of more than 1.0 IP, 2nd in the National League...Was 21-for-22 in save opps. prior to All-Star break. Earned first All-Star selection, pitching a perfect 3rd during the AS game...Earned MLB Delivery Man of the Month honors in August after going 11 for 12 in save opps. with 0.00 ERA (11.0 IP)...Allowed runs in just four ballparks (STL, CIN, HOU & PIT). Had a season high 5 saves against both the Cubs & Pirates...Had saves against all but one of the 19 teams he faced in 2009, Philadelphia being the lone exception...Signed a two-year contract extension on Sept. 1.2008Led team's relievers in saves (17), wins (6), innings pitched (78.2) and tied for team lead in appearances (74).... Became St. Louis' first saves leader other than Jason Isringhausen since 2001.... Moved into closer role in May and converted 5 of 5 save chances for the month.... Closed out Game 1 on 6/5 at WSH retiring 1-2-3 in lineup but suffered his first blown save and loss since becoming team'scloser in Game 2.... Struck out all 3 batters faced in 9th on 6/8 at HOU for his 8th save.... Suffered blown save on F.Tatis HR to start 9th inn. 7/26 at NY, then recorded six outs in a game the Cards eventually won10-8 in 14 innings.... Blanked the Braves for 2.0 IP on 7/29 and was credited with his 4th win.... Picked up his 5th win 8/27 vs. MIL, with1.0 IP and retired final two batters with RISP.... Closed out 9/6 game vs. FLA for 15th save - his first save since 7/19 vs. SD.... Allowed 2-run HR in 9th 9/26 vs. CIN, but got win #8 when Cards scored in bottom half.... Was 1-1 with a 2.84 ERA (12.2 IP/4 ER) in August, but allowed .306 BA (15-49).... Allowed just 2 runs in his last 10 outings and surrendered 9 runs in last 21 apps. (23.0 IP, 3.52 ERA).... Had a season-best 10.0 scoreless IP streak from 9/6-24.2007Righthander joined the Cardinals staff vying for a starting job, but left spring training as primary relief set-up man. Allowed just three earned runs the first two months of the season (1.27 ERA, 21.1 IP) and through July was 4-0 with a 1.33ERA in 54.1 IP (9R, 8ER). His 1.23 ERA before the All-Star Break led all Major League pitchers (6 ER/44.0 IP). Signed a two-year extension to keep him in a Cardinals uniform through 2009 on 7/5. Retired the first batter faced in 50 of his 69 outings & allowed runs in just 16 games (27 ER). Had 30 of team's 85 Holds & recorded Holds in 18 of his last 35 outings. Ranked T6th in NL with 30 Holds...Julian Tavarez(2005) owns STL record with 32 Holds. Earned the first save of his Major League career on 9/4 vs. PIT (305th game). Allowed runs in six of his 13 Sept. outings (12.1 IP/13 ER) for 9.49 ERA and ended the season with a four-game losing skid. Made his STL debut on 4/3 vs. Mets and recorded a 1-2-3 7th inning, as he became 1,800th player in Cardinals history. Earned his first Cardinals win with 1.1 scoreless IP on 4/11 at PIT. Allowed his 1st run on the year 4/18 at SF with solo HR to B.Bonds in 8th for a blown save. Fanned 7-straight batters 4/26-5/4: K'd all three batters faced while working a scoreless 7th on 5/2 at MIL & fanned three on5/4 vs. HOU in scoreless 7th for Hold #5. Ended his scoreless streak at nine games (8.2 IP) allowing a run 5/30 at COL - hit first batter faced who later scored. Earned second win of season on 6/1 at HOU after facing four in the 8th. Worked season-high 2.2 scoreless IP 6/25 at NY. Was credited with 3rd win of season 7/4 vs. ARI. Threw 54 pitches in 2.0 IP on 7/22 at ATL...his previous high for the season was 34 pitches. Earned Hold #19 in 2.0 IP of Game 2 on 7/28 vs. MIL while fanning 3. Picked up 4th win of season after pitching 1.2 innings on 7/29 vs. MIL...the team came back to score 5 in the 8th for the win. Suffered his 1st loss of the season 8/3 at WSH, allowing a run on three hits in 0.1 IP. Earned 23rd Hold 8/20 at CHI with 1.2 scoreless inn. and stranded one. Was brilliant on 8/25 vs. ATL, facing minimum six batters in 2.0 IP for 24th Hold. Worked a scoreless 7th & 8th on 8/31 vs. CIN for 26th Hold, protecting 7-4 lead. Earned Sv#1 on 9/4 vs. PIT, stranding bases loaded in 8th & working scoreless 9th...it was the first save of his Major Leaguecareer (305th career game). Allowed 3 runs & inherited run in 7th on 9/9 at ARI for 4th blown save & 3rd loss. Allowed 2-run HR (Soriano) in 8th inn. of Gm. 1 on 9/15 vs. CHI & suffered Bln Sv & loss.2006Combined to go 6-7, 4.54 in 66 relief apperances betweenPhiladelphia and Cincinnati...ranked among the National Leagueleaders in relief innings pitched (77.1, 10th)...was acquired by theReds from Philadelphia, along with cash, in exchange for aplayer to be named later on 8/7 (RHP Zac Stott, 8/9)...with theReds, stranded nine of 10 (90%) inherited baserunners andretired the first batter 15 of 19 times (79%), the best percentageson the bullpen staff...for Philadelphia went 1-5, 4.58 in 46 reliefapps. before he was designated for assignment on 7/30...wasacquired on 8/7 by CIN and that night made his Reds debut vs.STL in the 13-1 loss (4.1 IP, 5K)...was the longest relief outing bya Reds pitcher to that point in the season and his five strikeoutswere the most by a Reds reliever in 2006...in his secondappearance on 8/9 vs. STL, threw a scoreless ninth inning andearned the 8-7 victory as a result of David Ross' two-run walkoffhome run off Jason Isringhausen...earned three of his four Redsvictories in a six-day span from 8/19-8/24 and then added anotheron 9/26 at FLA (5-3 win)...that 3-game winning streak tied hiscareer high.2005Began the season in the Mariners' bullpen and made twoapps. before finishing the season with 30 consecutive starts...Seattle averaged just 3.4 runs per game in his starts, secondlowestrun support in the American League and fifth-lowest in themajors...ranked second on the staff to Jamie Moyer in bothinnings pitched (190.2) and quality starts (15)...in each of hisfirst three starts threw at least 8.0 innings but went 1-2 despitea 2.55 ERA...posted a 3.33 ERA in the 19 starts in which hethrew at least 6.0 innings...in a complete-game 2-1 loss on 4/16at CWS retired 24 of his 28 batters faced; at 1 hour, 39 minuteswas the fastest game in Mariners history...on 5/31 vs. TOR wasejected after hitting a batter with a pitch...from 7/9-7/20 wassuspended for 10 games for violating Major League Baseball'sjoint drug prevention and treatment program.2004For the second consecutive season threw at least 200innings (200.1) and a career-high 32 starts...produced a careerhigh104 strikeouts...Mariners batters averaged just 3.14 runs pergame in his starts, the worst run support in the MajorLeagues...posted a 3.47 ERA in the 23 starts in which he threwat least 6.0 innings...on 9/15 vs. ANA snapped his career-high 11-game losing streak with a complete-game 1-0 victory...posted a3.92 ERA in 13 starts at SAFECO Field.2003In his first full season in a rotation established career highsin victories (11), starts (32) and innings pitched (212.0)...rankedninth in the American League with a 3.57 ERA...also rankedamong the AL pitching leaders with a 3.21 road ERA (6th) anda 3.50 night ERA (10th)...pitched at least 6.0 innings in 28 of his32 starts, including each of his last eight starts of the season...theMariners went 18-14 in his 32 starts overall and 7-1 in his nodecisions...Seattle scored two runs or fewer in 11 of his 13losses...threw his first two career complete games, a 6-0 victoryvs. OAK on 7/23 and a 1-0 loss at TB on 9/4...on 6/6 vs. NYMsingled off Jae Seo for his first career hit.2002Went 4-5, 3.91 in his 12 starts and 3-0, 4.17 in 29 reliefoutings...from 6/28-7/15 was on the 15-day disabled list with a viralinfection...made one rehab appearance at Everett (A)...earnedthe victory in his first Major League start on 4/23 vs. ANA.2001Spent almost a full season in the Majors and appeared in38 games for the Mariners...from 8/3-8/8 spent time on Class AAATacoma's roster and made one appearance...on 4/7 at TEX earnedhis first Major League victory...threw 10.0 scoreless innings in hisfirst four games from 4/3-16...in eight apps. in April posted a 0.90ERA (20IP, 2ER)...on 6/4 vs. TEX threw a career-high 5.2 inningsin relief...the Mariners went 22-16 when he pitched.2000Spent the entire season at Class AAA Tacoma and went11-5, 3.90 with four complete games in 22 starts and nine reliefapps...among Pacific Coast League pitching leaders ranked thirdin strikeouts (142), T3rd in victories (11) and complete games (4),fourth in innings pitched (164.0) and fifth in ERA (3.90)...averagedjust 1.68 walks per 9 innings, best ratio among all PCL starters...began the season in the bullpen and made nine apps. there beforejoining the rotation on 5/6...made his last 22 apps. as a starter.1999In his Major League debut made six relief apps. for theMariners...began the season at Class AAA Tacoma...on 5/15 waspromoted and made his Major League debut that night vs. KC...made three relief apps before he returned to Tacoma on 5/27...wasrecalled again on 7/21 and made three other apps. for Seattlebefore he was optioned back to Tacoma on 7/29.1998Spent his first full-season with Tacoma in 1998...was fourth on team in innings pitched and third in strikeouts...was winner in opening night 15-5 victory at Salt Lakeb&won three straight starts May 6-16...picked up lone save June 13 in 10-8 win vs. Nashvilleb&was named recipient of John Ellis Award recognizing his community involvement in the Tacoma area...was 7-3, 2.74 in 13 starts with Aragua of the Venezuelan League...1997Played a role in historic back-to-back no-hitters in 1997 with Memphis...made spot start April 14 vs. Chattanooga and threw six innings of no-hit (6.0,0,0,0,1,6); combined with two others on the no-no...tossed one inning of no-hit relief at Knoxville on April 19...threw CG no-hitter in game #1 of a doubleheader April 21 at Carolina (7.0,0,0,0,3,3)...named Southern League Pitcher of the Week April 11-17 and April 18-24...promoted to Tacoma June 1...won his first triple-A start at Las Vegas June 2...walked only a combined 38 opposing batters in 149.2 innings pitched.1996Returned to Port City in 1996...led Roosters in strikeouts (127), starts (27) and innings pitched (182.0)...innings total was fourth-highest in all of double-A.1995Moved to AA Port City in 1995...was second on the team in innings (146.0) and third in starts (20)...won four straight starts June 9-26, including a two-hit shutout vs. Carolina June 9.1994Began 1994 at Appleton and tied for third in the Midwest League in complete games (5)...tossed a three-hit shutout vs. Clinton in 3-0 win on July 10...was promoted to Riverside on July 15 and fired a four-hit shutout in first outing, a 3-0 win vs. San Jose; retired 12 straight between the third and seventh innings...lone start at Calgary was Aug. 8 vs. Albuquerque; left with 9-6 lead, but ended up with no decision in 11-9 loss...was optioned back to Riverside the next day, where he finished the season...combined total of 13 wins and 139 strikeouts ranked fourth in the Mariners minor league system, while 3.26 ERA was seventh.1993Began his professional career with Bellingham in 1993...finished 10th in the Northwest League in ERA (2.92).