Tigers takeaways: A.J. Hinch doing whatever it takes for needed wins

At the beginning of Thursday’s game, Detroit Tigers reliever Kyle Finnegan – who pitched the eighth inning of the Tigers’ 5-1 win over the Chicago Cubs the day before – was not available to pitch for the third time in four days. That change by the ninth inning.

Detroit’s 4-3 home win over the Kansas City Royals on Thursday, July 23, demonstrated perseverance through adversity, with the Tigers mounting comebacks in the seventh and eighth innings to secure the win. But it also showed an aggressive mentality from a team desperate for wins, as Tigers manager A.J. Hinch explained his willingness to do whatever it takes to keep winning.

“We didn’t want to use Finnegan (in the ninth inning), we just had earned the right to go for it,” he said.

And go for it he did.

The ninth inning began with the Tigers holding a 4-3 lead and lefty Drew Sommers looking to register his first-career save with both Finnegan and closer Kenley Jansen having pitched the day before. But then Sommers gave up a one-out walk to center fielder Lane Thomas and a subsequent single to first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino, putting the tying run in scoring position and pressing Finnegan into service.

Had the Tigers possessed the record they had at this point last year (60-43, with an 8½ game lead in the American League Central), Hinch may have allowed Sommers to pitch through the trouble, knowing a late-July loss may have been worth it to preserve the most important relievers. But with the Tigers needing as many wins as possible before the Aug. 3 trade deadline, the plan was scrapped – out came Sommers after the minimum three batters and in came Finnegan, pitching on back-to-back days for the first time since April 30.

Detroit Tigers’ 8th-inning comeback brings 4-3 win over Royals

And if needed, Finnegan wasn’t the only one who would’ve been pitching with sub-optimal rest.

“I had Kenley [ready] in an emergency, and we were almost there,” he said of his closer, whose gutsy outing in an extra-inning win against the Cubs on Monday was followed by another appearance on Tuesday.

Luckily for Finnegan and the Tigers, Royals designated hitter Salvador Perez grounded into a game-ending double play on the reliever’s second pitch of the game.

“To be out there for only a couple of pitches and get that big double play is big. To pick up Sommers and kind of feel like we stole a win there and get a good start to the series,” Finnegan said.

While the plan was for the 34-year-old righty not to pitch, Finnegan came into the game knowing it was a possibility he could. And with the Tigers out of good options, a new plan was quickly formed.

“I think today was a day for us to step up. Guys that maybe aren’t feeling so great or pitched a lot recently, but that’s part of the job,” Finnegan said. “I was planning on pitching today if it was close. I was ready. I was moving around before the phone rang.”

Hinch’s “whatever it takes” mindset didn’t just manifest in his bullpen usage, and it didn’t always work on Thursday night. The Tigers ran into three outs on the basepaths – one on a pickoff of left fielder Zach McKinstry at first base in the second inning, one on James Outman’s failed stolen base attempt in the fifth inning and one when shortstop Kevin McGonigle attempted to stretch a single into a double in the seventh.

McKinstry’s out came as a result of him slipping while trying to return to the bag, while Hinch said he wasn’t convinced Outman actually got tagged out at second on the stolen base attempt. Still, the outs are results of Detroit’s aggressiveness on the basepaths, with the theory going something like this: extra bases turn into extra runs turn into needed wins.

“I was trying to kickstart us do to something,” Hinch said of Outman’s stolen base attempt. “We were pretty sluggish today. We’re going to be better tomorrow, but trying to get an extra base just in case Kevin [McGonigle] gets a single, you know, or something with a runner in scoring position, given where we were in the day. So we pay attention to that stuff.”

Hinch’s gambit and McGonigle’s misplay both looked like rally killers in the moment, with each ending their respective innings just as the Tigers’ offense was building momentum. But don’t expect Hinch to reconsider this type of approach, especially when the aggressiveness ultimately results in a win – even if the win came from somewhere completely different on the field.

Despite recording the go-ahead RBI double in the eighth inning, Tigers catcher Dillon Dingler credited the pitching for Thursday’s win.

“[Our pitchers] have been keeping us in games, even when our offense isn’t really rolling in the early innings, and I feel like that was what happened tonight. And you know, the back of our [bullpen] has been great,” he said.

Dingler himself was pretty great, too, as the All-Star has been all year. He finished the game 2-for-3 with a walk, marking his 28th multi-hit game of the season, second-most on the Tigers behind left fielder Riley Greene (32). But as much as it seems like Dingler often does, he can’t carry the entire team on his shoulders.

But he doesn’t have to if the Tigers keep plugging away like this. Despite being five games under .500 and still facing a significant deficit in the divisional and wild-card races, Hinch said he was “very proud” of how his team has played through tough stretches and clawed closer into the postseason chase.

“We’re not going to win every game, it’s the state of baseball,” he said. “But when we get into a position like that, guys are stepping up and doing some extraordinary things that are going to get overlooked, because it’s whatever the day of the month it is in July, and it doesn’t seem like much. [But it] matters to them.”

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You can reach Christian at cromo@freepress.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Tigers takeaways: A.J. Hinch doing whatever it takes for needed wins