Rafael Soriano picked up his 28th save of the season in Saturday's win over the Brewers.

It was a clean ninth inning for Soriano, who retired all three batters he faced. The 33-year-old closer has now rattled off four straight scoreless appearances.

Rafael Soriano and Ian Krol combined to blow a lead in the ninth inning Thursday in an eventual victory against the Pirates.

While it wasn't a save situation, it certainly had the feel of one for the sinking Nationals. Soriano entered the top of the ninth inning with a 7-3 lead, but he walked back-to-back batters before giving up an RBI double to Jordy Mercer. After he struck out Andrew McCutchen swinging, he allowed an RBI single to Russell Martin before bench coach Randy Knorr (Davey Johnson was ejected earlier in the game) pulled him in favor of Ian Krol. The young left-hander would go on to give up a game-tying single to Josh Harrison, but was able to stop the bleeding before Bryce Harper hit a walk-off two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth to end it.

Rafael Soriano earned his 25th save of the season Sunday in the Nationals' win over the Marlins.

Soriano has been great for the Nationals this year -- posting a 2.25 ERA and 1.18 WHIP in the first half -- but he's doing it without missing bats. He struck out zero on Sunday and has whiffed just four over 11 innings since June 20. We aren't sure if Soriano can keep pitching this effectively if he's no longer able to punch out batters consistently, with 29 strikeouts in 40 innings. He currently has the lowest strikeout rate of his career since his rookie season.

Rafael Soriano was handed his fourth blown save of the season, and first since May 21, after surrendering a solo homer to Giancarlo Stanton in the ninth inning on Saturday.

Tasked with protecting a 1-0 lead, Soriano got ahead of Stanton 1-2 before surrendering the game-tying blast. He did manage to retire the next three hitters in order, but the damage had been done. Despite his low strikeout rate, Soriano should still have plenty of job security.

Rafael Soriano currently has the lowest strikeout rate of his career since his rookie season.

Soriano is striking out 6.63 batters per nine innings, slightly above the 6.09 he whiffed per game as a rookie starter for the Mariners in 2002. As a point of reference, Soriano is striking out roughly half as many batters per inning than he did as an All-Star with the Braves in 2009. Fortunately, the decrease hasn't affected Soriano's performance whatsoever in 2013, as he's posted a 2.13 ERA and 1.18 WHIP over 38 appearances for the Nationals. Soriano has produced as expected in Washington, but his margin for error is currently as small as it's ever been in his career.

Rafael Soriano earned his 22nd save of the season Thursday in the Nationals' win over the Brewers.

Soriano allowed a one-out single to Norichika Aoki and then walked Jean Segura, but he struck out Aramis Ramirez and got Jonathan Lucroy to pop out to end the threat. Soriano has a 2.31 ERA and 28/8 K/BB ratio in 35 innings this season. He's 22-for-25 in save chances.

Rafael Soriano notched his 21st save of the year against the Diamondbacks on Wednesday.

Soriano hasn't blown a save since May 21, and he's now got a 2.45 ERA for the year. His 21 saves tie him with Edward Mujica for third in the National League, behind only Jason Grilli and Craig Kimbrel.

Rafael Soriano gave up a run on two hits but still nailed down his 17th save in Thursday's win over the Rockies.

Soriano allowed a one-out single to Nolan Arenado, who came home on a Todd Helton single. He was able to close out the threat by getting Jonathan Herrera to pop out to end it. It's just the fifth time in 27 appearances this season that Soriano has allowed an earned run.

Rafael Soriano bounced back from Tuesday's blown save to pitch a scoreless inning for his 13th save Wednesday against the Giants.

Soriano's four-year old caught Marco Scutaro's fly to deep left to end the game. It was Soriano's first save since May 9. He had a loss and two blown saves since.

Rafael Soriano took his third blown save after giving up a run in the ninth against the Giants on Tuesday.

Soriano also took a blown save on Friday, but that was aided by a Ryan Zimmerman throwing error and he ended up notching the win in the 10th. Soriano still has nothing to worry about as far as job security -- he's more trustworthy than Drew Storen right now -- but the Nationals can't afford to continue being let down by their pen when their offense has been so poor.

Rafael Soriano worked a perfect ninth inning to earn his 11th save of the season Wednesday.

There are a lot of cloudy closer situations around the league, but Washington isn't one of them. Soriano has blown just one save in 12 chances, and he has a 2.40 ERA after Wednesday's game. The right-hander is one of the safest saves options going these days.

Rafael Soriano notched his 10th save of the year Saturday in the Nationals' 5-4 win over the Pirates.

Soriano needed only 12 pitches. He has a 2.77 ERA, 0.92 WHIP and 12/3 K/BB ratio in 13 innings this year.

Rafael Soriano recorded his eighth save of the year with a 1-2-3 ninth inning against the Braves on Wednesday.

Soriano avoided the meat of the Braves' order Wednesday, but not all saves are created equal. They do, however, all count the same, and the right-hander has blown just one of nine opportunities so far. After a rough patch in early April, Soriano has rebounded to post seven straight appearances without allowing a run.

Rafael Soriano is unavailable for Monday's game following the birth of his child.

He's only expected to miss one game, so the Nationals will not make a roster move. Drew Storen will be used if a save opportunity presents itself Monday.

Rafael Soriano earned his sixth save of the season Saturday in the Nationals' defeat of the Mets.

Soriano allowed a walk but was otherwise perfect in closing out the Nationals' victory. He has not allowed a run in four straight relief appearances and should remain a top fantasy closer throughout the 2013 season.

Rafael Soriano picked up his fifth save with a scoreless ninth versus the White Sox on Thursday.

Soriano has been shaky, but he's 5-for-6 saving games and he's pitched scoreless innings in four of his six trips to the mound. Now that he's pitched three days in a row, he probably is due Friday off. Drew Storen could close tomorrow in his place.

Nationals pitching coach Steve McCatty said Wednesday that Rafael Soriano has a "little tweak in his leg."

That might help explain why Soriano has had such trouble in his last two relief appearances. It's not believed to be a serious injury, but the 33-year-old right-hander may be given a few days off. Which is even more reason to go grab Nationals setup man Drew Storen.

Rafael Soriano nailed down a save in nail-biting fashion Tuesday, allowing a two-run homer before getting a flyout to end the game.

Alex Rios got to Soriano with a two-out blast, but Paul Konerko flew out harmlessly to center field to seal the Nationals' win. The Nats' closer has now allowed two runs in two straight games, blowing one save and nearly blowing a second. He has some leash, but Washington has a good alternative in Drew Storen should Soriano continue to falter.

Rafael Soriano moved to 2-for-2 in save opportunities in Wednesday night's win over the Marlins.

It wasn't without some trepidation, as the tying run came to the plate following a single and a walk. But the 33-year-old reliever got the last two batters to secure the win. The Nationals have plenty of other options available to close games should Soriano falter, but the job isn't going to anyone else any time soon.

Rafael Soriano tossed a scoreless ninth inning Monday against the Marlins to earn his first save of 2013.

Soriano set 'em down in order, picking up two strikeouts. He posted an exceptional 2.26 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and 69/24 K/BB ratio across 67 2/3 innings last season for the Yankees and should be an elite fantasy closer this summer on a very good Nationals team.