Heath Bell blew his sixth save and took the loss in Sunday's 5-4 setback against the Cardinals. This one was ugly. Bell simply had nothing in blowing his second save in five days, allowing three runs on three hits and two walks while recording just two outs. He threw 34 pitches. A colossal disaster as the Marlins stopper, Bell will enter the All-Star break the owner of a 6.75 ERA, 32/20 K/BB ratio and absurd 1.82 WHIP through 40 appearances and 34 2/3 innings. Unless he comes out mowing down hitters in 1-2-3 innings after the break, he's in real danger of losing save opportunities once Juan Carlos Oviedo rejoins Miami's bullpen.

Heath Bell is not available out of the bullpen Saturday. Bell worked up a high pitch count Friday and will be rested as a precautionary measure. Steve Cishek, Mike Dunn and Randy Choate are all available in his absence.

Heath Bell bounced back from Tuesday's blown save to pitch a scoreless 10th inning for his 18th save Wednesday. Bell allowed a double to Rickie Weeks with one out -- it should have been a single, but Weeks aggressively took second on the play -- then retired the final two batters he faced for the save in a one-run game. While his rough outings have often led to disaster, Bell has turned in scoreless appearances in 14 of his last 16 outings.

Heath Bell took his fifth blown save and fourth loss after giving up Aramis Ramirez's two-run homer in the 10th inning Tuesday. This would have been a huge win for the Marlins, coming from from 9-2 down and taking a lead in the top of the 10th, but Bell couldn't hold it. Technically it's his first blown save since May 4, but he also had a horrible outing in blowing a four-run lead on June 25. He has turned in scoreless appearances in 13 of his last 15 trips to the mound, so his closing gig shouldn't be up for grabs. It doesn't change the fact that he's been a big disappointment.

Heath Bell pitched around a leadoff walk to notch his 13th save of the season in Monday's win over the Red Sox. Bell walked Adrian Gonzalez but rebounded to strike out the side. Although we still don't have total trust in him, he's now converted 10 straight save opportunities and hasn't allowed a run over his last seven appearances.

Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen said Sunday that he's sticking with Heath Bell at closer. Bell was removed from a second straight save chance Saturday and now has a woeful 8.47 ERA and 2.24 WHIP to go along with a 10/14 K/BB ratio over 17 innings. Guillen has already removed him from the closer role once and will probably do so again if Bell has another blowup anytime soon. Steve Cishek and Randy Choate would likely share the ninth inning gig if the Marlins make a move.

Heath Bell was pulled from another save opportunity in Saturday's game against the Giants. The struggling Bell started the ninth inning with a comfortable 5-2 lead. He gave up a leadoff single, induced a line-drive out and then walked two straight Giants. At that point, manager Ozzie Guillen had seen enough and turned to Randy Choate, who nailed down the save. Bell has now been removed from two straight save chances, putting him on very thin ice once again.

Heath Bell pitched around an error to convert his sixth save of the season in Monday's win over the Rockies. Bell needed just 13 pitches to get through the inning despite an error behind him, as he got Troy Tulowitzki to ground into a double-play and Todd Helton to line out. He's now converted three straight opportunities since regaining his closer job, but Bell is still not striking anyone out and is far from a safe bet in the ninth inning.

Heath Bell got rocked in a non-save situation Sunday, allowing two runs on two hits and two walks, but inexplicably picked up the win in Miami's 8-4 triumph over the Mets. Luckily for Bell, Frank Francisco was even worse at his ninth-inning duties this afternoon. Called on to hold the line in a 2-2 game, Bell set the tone for his latest disaster by serving up a one-out double to Daniel Murphy. In Bell's slight defense, one of the walks was intentional, but it was still an indefensible outing for Miami's $27 million stopper. It's anyone's guess as to whether manager Ozzie Guillen will stick with his Friday pledge to return Bell to closing duties, but at the very least, Steve Cishek and Edward Mujica should remained owned in all formats.

Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen said Saturday that Heath Bell is being pulled from his ninth-inning role. Bell blew his fourth save in seven chances on Friday night against the Padres and is now sporting an 11.42 ERA on the year. "We're going to move him down, maybe for a few days, to get him back on track," said Guillen. "It's not like I'm removing him from his job. We're going to come up with something positive for him to resolve the problem." Steve Cishek is expected to handle ninth-inning duties for the time being.