With some extra attention to detail, Finnegan notches 30th save

One week ago, Kyle Finnegan blew a four-run lead in Arizona, then had to sweat out the final 24 hours prior to the trade deadline before learning the Nationals were retaining him. It was an emotional couple of days for the Nationals closer, who found himself suffering his worst loss of the year while simultaneously worrying about where his next appearance would come.

That next appearance finally came Saturday, when Davey Martinez summoned Finnegan for a four-out save against the Brewers. And that was followed immediately on Sunday, when Finnegan recorded the final three outs of a 4-3 victory to cap a wild week with a decidedly upbeat conclusion.

“That’s the life of relief pitching,” he said. “It can be a bit of a roller coaster at times. You’re going to have good outings, bad outings. And you’ve just got to stay the course. I had a rough one in Arizona, but we always bounce back. And I’m happy to have two good outings under my belt and put it behind me.”

Both last Monday’s outing against the Diamondbacks and Saturday’s game against the Brewers saw Finnegan inherit a four-run lead. The cushion Sunday was merely one run, leaving no margin for error. And when he lost a seven-pitch battle with Rhys Hoskins, who delivered a leadoff single to right to begin the ninth, the pressure ratcheted up right away.

Finnegan, though, made quick work of the rest of the inning. He got Blake Perkins to fly out on the second pitch he saw. Then he went right after Brice Turang and got him to hit a ground ball on the second pitch he saw for the game-ending double play.

The under-the-radar key to that sequence, though, was Finnegan’s ability to keep Sal Frelick (pinch-running for Hoskins) from stealing second and getting himself into scoring position.

“What I love is that he had a couple slide steps, which was great,” Martinez said. “I think it messed up the hitter. It definitely messed up the runner. And it was beautiful: We turned the double play by keeping him at first base.”

Finnegan struggled mightily in such situations last year, when opponents attempted 16 stolen bases against him and were successful 15 times. This year, they’ve tried to run on him only once, a direct result of the increased attention he has given to unsung that part of his job.

“Absolutely. You know the running game is going to come into play in the ninth inning, especially in a one-run game,” he said. “They pinch-run a guy with the intention, probably, of trying to get to second base. So it’s my job to keep him there.

“It’s something I’ve worked on, because it was a problem for me at times last year. So I put a lot of work in the offseason: Holding the ball, mixing times, being quicker to the plate when I need to be. And I think not only does that keep him at first, but it keeps the double play in order.”

Sure enough, Frelick was still at first base when Turang hit his grounder to Luis Garcia Jr. with one out in the ninth. Garcia flipped the ball to CJ Abrams, who fired it to Juan Yepez and the Nationals celebrated a tight win at the center of the diamond.

And in the middle of that celebration was Finnegan, who reached a notable milestone in the process with his 30th save of the season. Remarkably, he’s the first Nationals reliever to get to that number since Rafael Soriano in 2014.

“I think it’s a testament to our team,” Finnegan said. “You’ve got to have opportunities to get saves, and we’ve done a good job of winning close games. When you do that, there’s going to be lots of opportunities. I feel good about going out there and being able to get the job done. I guess 30 sounds good, but it’s just a testament to this entire team.”