PHOENIX — It wasn’t about getting Justin Wilson acclimated.
The Detroit Tigers left-hander, anointed as the team’s closer some seven hours earlier, had pitched the ninth inning before. He has saved games before. Been in the highest of leverage situations before, pitching late in games against the heart of the opponents’ order.
No, Wilson came into the game Tuesday night against the Arizona Diamondbacks with a four-run lead because of this: “I just wanted to win the game,” manager Brad Ausmus said.
And after the Tigers blew back-to-back ninth-inning leads over the weekend against the Oakland Athletics — courtesy of now former closer Francisco Rodriguez — they would not blow another, not with the electric left arm of Wilson pitching with a lengthy lead.