"Braves closer Billy Wagner hadn't pitched in a week, and said even veterans have a hard time staying sharp with that much time off.

"Oh, hell yes," he said before Tuesday night's game against the Cardinals. "It'll be no fun when I come in the game, and I'm sure it won't be any room for error. It should be about a one-run game with [Albert] Pujols coming up."

He wasn't complaining. He knows the situation comes with the territory for a closer whose team is struggling.

The Braves had a six-game losing streak before Tuesday, the last four losses coming on the current trip - three at New York over the weekend, and a 4-3 defeat in Monday's series opener at St. Louis.

"Especially on the road it's hard" to get regular work for the closer, said Wagner, 38. "Because you can't work him into a game like last night, into a tie game. I mean, that could be a situation where you come in, throw an inning, you don't take the lead…."

But there's only so long the closer or any other reliever can sit."