Detroit, MI
Detroit Tigers at Arizona Diamondbacks: What time, TV channel is desert duel on?
Detroit Tigers (22-22) at Arizona Diamondbacks (21-24)
When: 6:10 p.m. Monday.
Where: Chase Field in Phoenix.
TV: Bally Sports Detroit, MLB Network outside Detroit market. (Have Xfinity but still looking for a way to watch BSD? Here are some other options.)
Radio: WXYT-FM (97.1). (Tigers radio affiliates).
Probable pitchers: Tigers RHP Jack Flaherty (0-3, 3.88ERA) vs. Diamondbacks RHP Zac Gallen (5-2, 2.86).
Weather: Indoors.
• Box score
Tigers lineup: TBA.
EVAN PETZOLD: Detroit Tigers stock watch: Three pitchers among best in bigs, but big bats aren’t hitting
Game notes: How many American Cy Young candidates can one team have?
Asking for a friend, whose name certainly doesn’t rhyme with Mack Blaherty. Look, Tarik Skubal is absolutely the front-runner, especially after Friday night’s performance in which he retired the first 13 batters he faced. And Reese Olson’s campaign is starting to pick up steam, even if he can’t pick up any victories.
And then there’s Mack Blaherty … er, Jack Flaherty, whose first season could hardly be going better. Ignore his 3.38 ERA (which is actually pretty good, when not compared to the aforementioned Tigers), and check out his 2.95 FIP. (That’s Fielding Independent Pitching — a measure of the three things pitchers can control — homers, strikeouts and walks.) Flaherty entered Friday ranked 11th among qualified AL starters, ahead of previous Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes (3.52, 20th) and just a bit behind teammates Olson (2.52, fourth) and Skubal (2.01, first).
Flaherty is also racking up the strikeouts; his 63 were good for third entering Friday (though Skubal shot past him against the D’backs). And walks? Flaherty has issued just six, third-fewest among AL starters qualified for the ERA title (behind only Tampa Bay’s Zach Eflin, with four, and Seattle’s George Kirby, with five). Take them together, and Flaherty has a ridiculous 10.50 strikeout-to-walk ratio, No. 1 in all of baseball. If Flaherty can keep up that pace, he’d finish third in MLB’s modern era —dating back to 1900 — behind only Bret Saberhagen (11.00 with the Mets in 1994) and Phil Hughes (11.63 with the Twins in 2014).
Of course, Flaherty is stuck behind the same wall as Olson — he has yet to pick up a victory in his eight starts, thanks to poor relief pitching and a lack of run support. Normally, we’d note the latter might not be a problem against the Diamondbacks, who entered Friday allowing 4.55 runs a game, 11th-most in the majors this season. But they’ll be sending ace Zac Gallen to the Chase Field mound tonight.
Flaherty’s opponent, Zac Gallen, knows something about Cy Young talk; the right-hander is coming off back-to-back top-five finishes in NL Cy Young voting, including a third-place nod last season, when he had a 3.47 ERA with 220 strikeouts and 47 walks in 210 innings. His ERA has been better this season, at 2.86, but the peripherals have dropped off a bit, at 45 strikeouts and 14 walks in 44 winnings, for an FIP of 3.57 (good for 17th in the NL).
After tonight’s game, the Tigers and Diamondbacks wrap up their series at 4:10 p.m. Sunday with righty Matt Manning taking on lefty Jordan Montgomery. After that, the Tigers zip east to open their three-game series against the Kansas City Royals on Monday night, while the D’backs head west for a three-game set against the NL West-leading Dodgers in Los Angeles.
TIGERS NEWSLETTER: What history tells us about Spencer Torkelson’s slow start
Live updates
For updates from and around the diamond, check it out on X.
Contact Ryan Ford at rford@freepress.com. Follow him on X (which used to be Twitter, y’know?) @theford. Read more on the Detroit Tigers and sign up for our Tigers newsletter.
Detroit, MI
Detroit Fire Department brings Christmas joy to family who lost everything in house fire
DETROIT (WXYZ) — Christmas came early for a Detroit family of 10 after the Detroit Fire Department surprised them with a truck full of gifts, nearly a year after they lost their home and all belongings in a devastating fire.
On Jan. 6, Raychelle Womack and her family were living in their home on Santa Rosa Drive near Fullerton Street when it caught fire. All their possessions were destroyed in the blaze.
Watch Demetrios Sanders’ video report below:
Family’s Christmas saved after fire
“You try buying everything for a new baby and then you lose it all, on top of the other seven kids that you’ve got — that’s everything,” Womack said.
As the family continued recovering from the fire, questions remained about what Christmas could look like this year.
“Whatever we could make happen, that’s what we’re going to make happen,” Womack said.
WXYZ
That worry disappeared when the Detroit Fire Department and community partners visited the family’s new east side home with a truck full of Christmas gifts.
“To lose everything and then slowly but surely gain everything, it means a lot,” Womack said.
This marks the fourth year the Detroit Fire Department has brought Christmas cheer to families in need during the holidays.
WXYZ
“We know people lose everything in these fires, so if we can do anything to make their lives better, to make their lives easier, especially around the holiday season, we’re willing to do it,” said Chuck Simms, executive fire commissioner with the Detroit Fire Department.
Simms said the effort is driven by donations and brings joy not only to the families impacted but also to the first responders who participate.
“It’s just a great thing and nice thing for us to do,” Simms said.
WXYZ
With a Christmas tree now surrounded by gifts, Womack’s children are definitely looking forward to Christmas.
“It was nice and we appreciate it,” one child said.
WXYZ
For Womack, only one challenge remains.
“Now it’s making sure everything (gifts) stays closed until Christmas,” Womack said.
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This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
Detroit Tigers sign Kyle Finnegan, Kenley Jansen in MLB free agency
The Detroit Tigers signed relievers Kyle Finnegan and Kenley Jansen to upgrade their bullpen. Evan Petzold and Chris Brown evaluate on “Days of Roar.”
Kenley Jansen is destined for the Baseball Hall of Fame.
The 38-year-old right-handed reliever is fourth on the all-time saves list, first on the active saves leaderboard, 24 saves away from the 500 milestone and just signed a one-year contract that guarantees $11 million.
But he hasn’t received the closer role from the Detroit Tigers for the 2026 season.
“Will we label Kenley the closer?” Tigers president baseball operations Scott Harris said Wednesday, Dec. 17, deferring to manager A.J. Hinch. “I don’t know. That’s going to be for A.J. to figure out. I’m just going to try to give him as many options as possible.”
Entering 2026, Jansen – a four-time All-Star in his 16-year MLB career – trails only three relievers on the saves list, all three of which are Hall of Famers: Lee Smith (478), Trevor Hoffman (601) and Mariano Rivera (652).
Before signing Jansen, the Tigers connected him with Hinch for an important phone call. For context, Hinch hasn’t named a full-time closer since left-hander Gregory Soto in 2021-22, instead favoring a bullpen that operates without defined roles.
Early signs suggest Jansen has already embraced the Tigers’ approach.
“From that conversation, we learned Kenley is all about winning,” Harris said of Jansen, who won the 2020 World Series with the Los Angeles Dodgers. “He’s willing to pitch in any spot. He just wants to be in a winning environment. And he was really attracted to Detroit as a destination, which is a huge step forward for this organization.”
Celebrate 125 epic seasons with the Tigers!
With three more saves, Jansen will move into sole possession of third place.
He has secured at least four saves in each of his 16 seasons, along with 25 or more saves in each of the past 13 full seasons, not counting the coronavirus pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign.
“We liked a lot of things,” Harris said. “First of all, he’s one of the best to ever do it. I’ve admired him from afar – and up close for a few years. He brings a ton of success in the highest-leverage moments of games in the regular season and postseason.”
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In 2025, Jansen registered a 2.59 ERA with 19 walks and 57 strikeouts across 59 innings in 62 games for the Los Angeles Angels, racking up 29 saves in 30 opportunities.
His 8.1% walk rate ranked in the 46th percentile, while his 24.4% strikeout rate ranked in the 63rd percentile.
Many indicators foreshadow regression coming soon – most notably the lowest strikeout rate of his career, driven by his third-worst in-zone whiff rate and worst out-of-zone whiff rate over the past four seasons – but the Tigers believe in their future Hall of Fame reliever.
“The cutter still really plays,” Harris said. “He also has a two-seamer that misses bats, as well as a curveball. We think he’s going to miss plenty of bats for us. We think there are some things that we can do with sequencing and refining some of the shapes of his mix.”
The Tigers have pursued Jansen several times.
There was interest during the 2024-25 offseason, when he ultimately signed a one-year, $10 million contract with the Angels, then at the 2025 trade deadline, when the Angels opted not to move him, and once again in the 2025-26 offseason, when the Tigers finally signed him to a one-year, $9 million contract, which includes a $12 million club option for 2027 (with a $2 million buyout).
“I’ve admired him from afar and up close,” Harris said.
With Jansen, the Tigers now feel confident using four relievers in save situations. The other three: right-hander Kyle Finnegan, right-hander Will Vest and left-hander Tyler Holton.
Of those four relievers, three of them produced more than 20 saves during the 2025 season, led by Jansen’s 29 and followed by Finnegan’s 24 and Vest’s 23.
“I think it was really important for us to add to the bullpen and be able to protect the leads that we know we’re going to get,” said Harris, who re-signed Finnegan on a two-year, $19 million contract earlier this month. “Whether we can find other opportunities to make our bullpen better, I’m not quite sure yet, but I like the bullpen as it is right now.”
For Jansen, his sights are set on reaching 500 saves.
It’s likely to happen in 2026.
But Jansen isn’t the Tigers’ closer.
Not yet.
“It’s going to be A.J.’s call on that,” Harris said.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
Listen to our weekly Tigers show “Days of Roar” every Monday afternoon during the season and Tuesday afternoon during the offseason on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.
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