One of the biggest additions at the trade deadline for the Detroit Tigers was closer Kyle Finnegan, who came over in a trade with the Washington Nationals. Finnegan quickly went from one of the worst teams in baseball to one of the best, and so far, he has looked good with his new team.
Finnegan has appeared in two games for the Tigers, and he has pitched 2.1 innings. He has given up one hit, zero runs and zero walks. He has struck out three batters. Finnegan is feeling the intensity that comes with playing for a contender.
Like most pitchers in Major League Baseball, Kyle Finnegan wants to treat every outing the same. However, it's hard to go from the Nationals to the Tigers and not feel the difference. Finnegan is now coming into very meaningful games as Detroit tries to keep a big lead in the AL Central division, and he knows how important that is.
“You try and tell yourself that every game matters the same, but it feels different. You know it’s a first place team trying to maintain one of the better records in the league,” Finnegan said after Monday's win, according to a post from Jeff Riger. “So yeah, I wanted it bad.”
Finnegan closed out a victory for the Tigers on Monday against the Minnesota Twins. Detroit faced a couple of different deficits in the game, but by the time Finnegan came in, he was working with a comfortable 6-3 advantage. He made easy work of three Twins, and the Tigers improved to 66-48 on the year.
The Tigers had a bad slump before the trade deadline as they went 1-12 during a 13-game stretch, but they are starting to play better baseball after winning six of their last eight. Detroit currently holds an eight-game lead over the Cleveland Guardians in the AL Central.
Kyle Finnegan and the Tigers are looking to secure the series victory over the Twins on Tuesday night as the two teams will be back in action at Comerica Park. Minnesota and Detroit will get underway at 6:40 ET. Another deadline add, Chris Paddack, will be on the mound for the Tigers, and he is going up against his former team. Zebby Matthews will be on the bump for the Twins.
