MIAMI (AP) - Struggling Florida Marlins closer Kevin Gregg says he's taking a break to rest a sore left knee that has bothered him the past three or four weeks.
The ailment wasn't previously disclosed, and it helps explain why Gregg is 0-4 in his past seven outings with an ERA of 16.20."Unfortunately I think I made a bad decision of trying to play through some inflammation in my knee, and it has cost me and cost the team a couple of games," Gregg said Saturday.
In his absence, manager Fredi Gonzalez said he'll use Matt Lindstrom or Joe Nelson as the closer. Lindstrom, touted as the Marlins' closer of the future, has no career saves. Nelson's most recent save was in 2006.
Gregg is expected to be sidelined only a few days.
"Hopefully it's just a couple of days, three, four, five days," Gonzalez said.
Gregg has 29 saves but leads the major leagues with nine blown saves. The latest came when he surrendered a game-winning grand slam to the New York Mets' Carlos Beltran in the ninth inning Friday.
"When I'm healthy, I'm going to get a lot of people out," Gregg said. "I don't want to back down. I want to keep going. But you have to look at the best interests of the team. Right now I don't think it's the best thing to go out there, because I am not 100 percent."
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