Pirates closer Joel Hanrahan misses save chance with hamstring injury

Joel Hanrahan was unavailable out of the Pirates’ bullpen last night because of a hamstring injury, so Juan Cruz got a rare save opportunity and closed out a 5-4 win over the Diamondbacks.

Tom Singer of MLB.com reports that Hanrahan tweaked his hamstring while throwing the final pitch of his Sunday save versus the Giants and “remains day-to-day with tightness in that area.”

Hanrahan said last night that he’s hoping to be available again Friday or Saturday, which would be nearly a week since the initial injury and means any further setback puts a disabled list stint in play.

He was fantastic last year with a 1.83 ERA and 40 saves in his first full season as a closer, but Hanrahan has gotten just one save chance so far this year. Last night’s save was surprisingly just the fourth of Cruz’s career despite his being a late-inning reliever with bat-missing stuff since 2004.