MLB PLAYER NEWS

Soria will be Tigers’ seventh-inning man

The Sports Xchange

July 25, 2014 at 12:37 am.

Soria, a right-hander, has been especially tough against right-handed hitters this season, holding them to a .089 average (4-for-45), second best among all major league relievers. Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Joakim Soria ranked eighth in the American League with 17 saves while with the Texas Rangers this season, but he will have a different role after he was acquired by the Detroit Tigers in a trade Wednesday.

Joe Nathan, who has 21 saves, remains the Tigers’ closer, and Joba Chamberlain, who leads the league with 22 holds, retains his place as the eighth-inning setup man.

That leaves the seventh inning for Soria.

“I think it was more important for us to get somebody who could pitch late in the game, that can pitch in the seventh, eighth or ninth,” Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski said in a conference call with reporters. “That was really our main focus.”

Soria, a right-hander, has been especially tough against right-handed hitters this season, holding them to a .089 average (4-for-45), second best among all major league relievers.

Soria wasn’t needed Thursday as the Tigers got seven innings from Max Scherzer in a 6-4 win over the Detroit Tigers. Chamberlain gave up a run in the eighth, and Nathan struck out the side in the ninth for the save.