CHICAGO — Detroit Tigers manager A.J. Hinch isn't naming a closer.

Not yet, at least.

That's because Hinch needs to figure out how to get to the ninth inning before worrying about the ninth inning. The combination of pitchers at the end of games could change throughout the early portion of the season.

"I will settle in to someone more often. I always have, I always will. I just don't think it's smart to say right now exactly what's going to be until I get these guys into the season and see what the best combination is."

COLT KEITH'S DAY OFF: How an old bet was settled on Colt Keith's off day with Tigers in Chicago

The fact that Hinch turned to right-handed reliever Jason Foley as opposed to right-handed reliever Alex Lange, who served as the closer last season, for the final outs on Opening Day is telling.

It was Foley's eighth save of his career.

"It's obviously awesome to throw the ninth and be in that spot," Foley said, "but at the same time, more importantly, we got the win."

What happened in the ninth inning Thursday explains how Hinch will weaponize his relievers in the bullpen. He has plenty of high-leverage options: Foley, Lange, right-hander Shelby Miller, right-hander Will Vest, left-hander Andrew Chafin and left-hander Tyler Holton.

All six relievers could finish games.

Facing the White Sox on Opening Day, Hinch sent Chafin back out to the mound for the ninth inning in a matchup with left-handed-hitting Andrew Benintendi. That's because left-handers hit .299 with an .844 OPS against Foley last season.

Chafin struck out Benintendi on three pitches.

"Going into the game, there's no telling how it's going to play out, both in situation and who we're going to use," Hinch said. "That decision actually started in the seventh inning, when I decided to use Shelby. That pocket (of hitters) is going to come around again in the ninth inning. I started thinking about how we were going to get to the finish line at that point, and I liked the combo that we had with Chafin sandwiched in between them."

Only then did Hinch called Foley out of the bullpen for matchups with Yoan Moncada and Luis Robert Jr. with one out in the ninth inning. Although Moncada is a switch-hitter, his batting average isn't as good against right-handed pitchers as a left-handed hitter, so by using Foley instead of Chafin, the Tigers forced Moncada to his weaker side.

"It's not hard to put Jason Foley in the game," Hinch said. "It's harder to wait to put him in the game. ... What we needed if Benintendi got on was going to be a ground ball. If we didn't, we had Moncada switched around a whole slew of righties after that. Even though it's a tough pocket, is the right pocket for Jason."

Foley struck out Moncada by freezing him with a down-and-in 100.2 mph sinker for a called-third strike. Foley finished the game by striking out Robert, a right-handed hitter who blasted 38 home runs last season, on back-to-back swinging strikes with overpowering sinkers.

The back-to-back sinkers hit 101.3 mph and 100.7 mph on the radar gun.

"I think adrenaline probably plays a little bit of a factor into it," said Foley, whose sinker averaged 97.2 mph last season. "It's Opening Day in a pretty important spot. So yeah, I mean, that's kinda all I got on that."

MORE ABOUT HIM: Will Jason Foley's plan for left-handed troubles push him to Tigers' closer role?

Foley understands his strengths.

The White Sox put left-handed hitters in the Nos. 1 and 9 spots on Opening Day, with a switch-hitter in the No. 2 spot, while right-handed hitters occupied the Nos. 3-8 spots in the batting order.

Therefore, Foley knew he would likely pitch in the game against the pocket of right-handed hitters, but as the game unfolded with left-hander Tarik Skubal completing six innings, he didn't know whether he was going to pitch at all.

"We really, honestly, have as good of a guess as you," Foley said. "He didn't really specify anything. I thought maybe I'd throw that seventh inning. I don't know who Shelby came in for, but I know it was three righties. I thought maybe that was going to be my spot, and then Chafin. We didn't really know. No one really has any idea. I honestly thought Lange was going to throw the ninth, but obviously, you got to be ready for whenever that phone rings."

Checking on Matt Manning

Right-hander Matt Manning lost the starting rotation competition to Reese Olson and Casey Mize in spring training. The 26-year-old, optioned to Triple-A Toledo, started Opening Day for the Mud Hens.

Manning allowed one run on three hits and one walk with seven strikeouts across five innings, throwing 71 pitches. Manning and the Mud Hens earned a 4-2 win over the Nashville Sounds, an affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers, in the first game of the Triple-A season.

A LOT BETTER: Tigers' Matt Manning has new edge and new weapons. He's pitching better than ever

The only run: Patrick Dorrian blasted a solo home run to center field off Manning's up-and-away 93 mph fastball in the third inning. Dorrian hit the ball with a 106.7 mph exit velocity, and it traveled 440 feet.

Before that, Manning struck out the side in the second inning: Joey Wiemer (called strike, 87.4 mph slider), Brewer Hicklen (swinging strike, 94.2 mph fastball) and Vinny Capra (swinging strike, 93.5 mph fastball).

Manning threw 33 fastballs, 15 sliders, 12 sweepers, seven splitters and four curveballs. He generated 11 whiffs with six fastballs, one slider and four sweepers. His fastball, an elite pitch, averaged 94 mph.

AL Central update

After one game, the Twins placed third baseman Royce Lewis — the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 draft — on the injured list with a right quad strain. He could miss more than a month of games.

Lewis, 24, blasted a solo home run in his first trip to the plate in Thursday's 4-1 win over the Kansas City Royals. In the third inning, though, he injured his leg while rounding second base on Carlos Correa's double.

Lewis played just 58 games last season because he had to recover from right knee surgery, followed by suffering a left oblique strain and left hamstring strain. But he hit .309 with 15 home runs in those 58 games.

The Twins are the reigning American League Central champions.

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

Listen to our weekly Tigers show "Days of Roar" every Monday afternoon on demand at freep.com, Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at freep.com/podcasts.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Jason Foley got Opening Day save, but not named Tigers closer – yet