The Dominican Framber Valdez pitched seven solid innings of just one run, Kenley Jansen got his 479th save, surpassed Lee Smith and was alone in third place on the all-time list, during the game in which the Detroit Tigers came back in the eighth inning to beat the Kansas City Royals 2-1 on Tuesday and achieve their fourth victory.
Jansen allowed a single leading off the ninth to Lane Thomas, who stole second base and then advanced to third on Salvador Pérez’s groundout.
Vinnie Pasquantino grounded out and Thomas took third. Jansen then retired Starling Marte with a fly ball for his third save of the season.
Only Panamanian Mariano Rivera (652) and Trevor Hoffman (601) have more saves. Carter Jensen connected for a force out but drove in a run.
