Tigers' Kenley Jansen escapes trouble again, moves into third place on MLB's all-time saves list
Detroit's closer earned his 479th career save against the Kansas City Royals.
Tigers' Kenley Jansen escapes trouble again, moves into third place on MLB's all-time saves list originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here . An escape artist throughout his 17-year MLB career, Detroit Tigers ' Kenley Jansen opened the top of the ninth inning Tuesday night by allowing a Lane Thomas single.
The Kansas City Royals baserunner stole second ???? pitches later and advanced to third on Salvador Perez's groundout. Attempting to protect a 2-1 advantage at Comerica Park , Jansen faced Vinnie Pasquantino with a drawn-in infield.
Connecting on an 86-mph slider, the Royals first baseman grounded to second baseman Zach McKinstry, who checked the baserunner back to the bag, keeping him stationary. With two outs, Starling Marte flew out to center field. Threat over.
Jansen escaped trouble -- again -- as the Tigers claimed their fourth win in a row and the long-time closer earned his 479th career save , moving into third place on MLB's all-time list. Tigers' Kenley Jansen stands alone in third place Jansen moved ahead of Hall of Famer Lee Smith and only trails all-time leader Mariano Rivera (652 saves) and runner-up Trevor Hoffman (601). The likely future Hall of Famer made up for not switching positions sooner.