Tigers' bullpen lives for -- and up to -- big moments vs. Sox 

CHICAGO -- Hours before the Tigers rallied for their second consecutive win, a 7-6 extra-inning victory over the White Sox on Saturday afternoon, manager A.J. Hinch talked up the advantages of a bullpen with so many options for different situations.

“I have to think about how we're going to get to the finish line before I worry about the finish line,” Hinch said about using Jason Foley for the save on Opening Day at Guaranteed Rate Field. “It could be different game to game, series to series. I will settle into someone more often. I always have, I always will. I just don't think it's smart to say right now exactly what it's going to be until I get these guys into the season and see what the best combination is.

“Alex [Lange] could close, Shelby [Miller] could close, Tyler [Holton] could close, [Andrew Chafin] in the right pocket will do it. Will [Vest] can do it. I feel good about a lot of different ways to put together the last nine outs.”

For Game 2, Hinch had to figure out how to get 20 outs from his bullpen after starter Kenta Maeda gave up six runs and three homers over 3 1/3 innings in his Tigers debut. Five relievers, none of them Foley, combined for 6 2/3 scoreless innings.

“It is nice to have a lot of options in the ‘pen, guys that can go multiple innings and guys that can get opposite-handed hitters out, things that we've talked about a ton in constructing the bullpen,” Hinch said. “And today was a good example of that.”

None of those outs were bigger than Vest’s first two.

Lange, who served as Detroit’s closer for much of last season, entered the seventh inning in a tie game and walked three of four batters. With the bases loaded, one out and Eloy Jiménez at the plate, Hinch brought in Vest and met at the mound.

“We talked as a group that we're going to go for two [outs] based on the runner,” Hinch said, “but if you had any doubt whatsoever, just throw it home and take the out, and get to the next hitter.”

Vest battled his control at times early in his career, and he walked six batters over 7 2/3 innings in Spring Training. And Foley could’ve been an option for a ground ball. But Vest knows how to pitch in traffic, and he knew how to pitch to the plan, even with nowhere to put Jiménez, who went 2-for-3 with a walk against him last year.

“I think the biggest thing is just staying on attack,” Vest said. “He still has to hit it, he still has to do the job, and we've got defenders out there. So I think staying on attack and letting him know that you're not scared of the situation is huge.

“Especially some of these guys, we know that we can run some two-seams in on them. That's where having a scouting report plays. So yeah, I told [catcher] Carson [Kelly] on the bump, 'Let's go at them with some two-seams and try to get a ground ball here.'”

Two pitches later, Vest got the ground ball, right into third baseman Zach McKinstry’s midsection. McKinstry dug the ball out of his glove as he dashed to third and fired off-balance to first, where Spencer Torkelson dug the ball out of the dirt.

Vest let out a yell that echoed around Guaranteed Rate Field.

“There's nothing better, I think, than coming into a big situation and keeping the game where it's at for the boys, and giving the team a chance to win,” Vest said. “I think that's what we live for as bullpen guys.”

Everybody else sensed it.

“The boys were rowdy,” McKinstry said. “It was a great feeling.”

Hinch sensed it, too, and debated whether to try to get another inning out of Vest once the adrenaline dropped. He trusted Vest for three more outs in the eighth.

Miller, who got a hold on Opening Day with a perfect seventh inning, retired the top of Chicago’s order in the ninth on Saturday, then stayed in for the 10th after Kelly’s RBI single put them in front.

“That's the strength of our bullpen: Every guy wants the ball in those situations,” Kelly said. “We've got a lot of those guys. I think rallying off each other and making big pitches when we needed to is something that's going to help us win a lot of ballgames.”