Kimbrel trying to hold up his end of ‘pen

BOSTON — When the Red Sox acquired Brad Ziegler from the D-backs on July 9, the Sox thought they had put together a formidable back end of the bullpen that also includes Craig Kimbrel and Koji Uehara.

All three are lights-out closers, and Kimbrel’s 243 career saves puts him among the active career leaders in that category.

It hasn’t quite worked out that way.

“The baseball has been pretty up and down since I got here,” Ziegler said prior to Wednesday night’s game against the Yankees at Fenway Park. “But if this is as bad as it gets, we’re going to be in pretty good shape when it comes to September.”

Uehara has been on the disabled list since July 20 with a right pectoral strain, and Red Sox manager John Farrell said on Wednesday that Uehara is throwing long toss and there’s no timetable for his return.

Kimbrel had surgery to repair torn meniscus in his left knee on July 11 and was activated three weeks later. Although Farrell said on Wednesday that Kimbrel is good to go, if his performance in the ninth inning on Tuesday night is any indication, Kimbrel is not yet at full strength.

Kimbrel walked four and allowed a run before Farrell replaced him with the bases loaded and two outs in favor of Matt Barnes, who struck out Mark Teixeira looking to avert complete disaster in a 5-3 victory.

Kimbrel doesn’t blow saves very often — 25 in his seven-year career, two this season, his first in Boston.

How off was Kimbrel? He had walked only 16 batters in 35 1/3 innings coming into the game and still owns a 1.14 WHIP, having struck out 57 batters.

Kimbrel reported after the outing — the third since his return on Aug. 1 — that his knee felt a little sore.

“I wouldn’t say it affected my performance, but it’s something that I’ll battle with,” Kimbrel said. “I’m still four weeks out of surgery. I’m good enough to pitch, I’m good enough to play, but it’s not going to affect me each and …

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