Five Mariners solo HRs lead to Tigers first four-game losing streak
The Tigers and Mariners went out on a hazy afternoon in Detroit (thanks for the smoke, Canada!) for the final game of their series. The Mariners had fed on Tigers pitching in the first two games of the series and were looking for a sweep to go into the break with momentum as they battled the Astros for the AL West crown.
It was the last game before the All-Star break as well, where the Tigers will be well represented by six players and a bat boy.
Jack Flaherty took the mound for the Tigers. After a disastrous outing in late June, he’s been an OK pitcher with an inflated ERA. He’s been striking out a ton of guys, as well, but the overall results have been inconsistent.
This game started rather poorly for Jack. A J.P. Crawford single was followed by two walks, loading the bases with nobody out. With disaster looming, Flaherty buckled down. Randy Arozarena struck out swinging, then Luke Raley lined into a double play, partly aided by a broken bat. Jam: escaped.
The Tigers also threatened in their half of the frame, but unlike the Mariners, they broke through. Righty Logan Gilbert began the game for Seattle. With two outs and two runners on, Dillon Dingler doubled them both in. Zach McKinstry popped out, but the Tigers were up 2-0 early.
Flaherty started racking up the strikeouts in the 2nd. He got two batters to strike out swinging and easily retired the side.
Gilbert sandwiched a Javier Báez single between three strikeouts, so nothing came of the hit.
Flaherty got his third and fourth consecutive strikeouts in the 3rd, but Julio Rodríguez took him deep for an oppo taco solo HR, halving the lead. Cal Raleigh was retired, but it was a bit tighter of a game.
The bottom of the 3rd saw the Tigers see the downside of their aggressiveness. Gleyber Torres singled to lead off, then Riley Greene followed with another single. Torres took off for third but was easily thrown out by Rodríguez. This was followed by a Dingler single, which would have scored Gleyber, but sometimes that’s just how baseball goes. McKinstry struck out, and that was that.
In the top of the 4th, Flaherty immediately gave up a HR to Randy Arozarena, tying the game. He got the next three batters without difficulty, but the homeritis is always concerning.
The Tigers went 1-2-3 against Gilbert in the bottom of the frame.
Flaherty’s pitch count rising meant the 5th was probably his last frame. He got two easy outs before a fly ball to left center fell in for a double — in reality, it was a miscommunication between Parker Meadows and Riley Greene, as neither charged it at the end. Flaherty rebounded by striking out the final batter.
His day: 5IP, 2ER, 2BB, and 7Ks. You’ll take that most days.
With one out in the bottom of the 5th, Torres singled. During Greene’s at-bat, the catcher Mitch Garver was shaken up for a bit, with the staff looking at him. He was able to stay in the game, but had he left the Mariners would have had to burn their DH to replace him as Cal Raleigh was in that spot. Gilbert was able to retire the next two batters and the game remained tied.
Tyler Holton relieved Flaherty for the 6th. He retired the side with no drama.
In the Tigers’ half of the frame, a groundout and a walk led to the Mariners pulling Gilbert for righty Casey Legumina. He got a flyout of a pinch-hitting Wenceel Pérez and a strikeout of a struggling Meadows. Womp Womp.
Holton came back out and immediately gave up a solo homer to Garver. He got the next two batters to ground out before a Cole Young single. Holton struck out the next batter, so no further damage. Still, the Mariners had taken the lead on their third home run of the game.
Báez legged out an infield single that would have easily been a double had Ben Williamson not made an incredible play to keep the ball from the outfield. He couldn’t get the speedy Javy, but to even snag that ball was a fantastic play. Seattle went back to the bullpen, picking Gabe Speier, a lefty with great numbers.
AJ Hinch pinch-hit Jahmai Jones for Colt Keith, a move that resulted in a groundout that advanced Báez. Javy then stole third and scored on a deep flyout from Torres, tying the game. That’s smart baseball.
Riley Greene liked that scoring, so he launched a bomb to deep right center for a solo, lead-taking HR. It was his 24th of the season, tying his career high…and there’s still a ton of baseball left this season. Tork grounded out, but suddenly the momentum was with Detroit.
Will Vest got the call for the top of the 8th. He walked Rodríguez on a full count, then did the same to Raleigh. His command seemed to be poor as he faced Randy Arozarena, who hit a grounder right down the third base line that McKinstry couldn’t snag, scoring a run and putting guys on 2nd and 3rd, still with zero outs.
The ump began to squeeze Vest against Luke Raley, missing at least one call that led to a walk. Bases loaded. A flyout to Meadows was shallow enough that he was able to throw a strike to the cutoff man in the infield, preventing a sac fly.
With the pressure on, Vest induced a grounder to SS that Báez somehow flipped to begin a double play turn, ending the inning. The game was tied but Vest somehow got out of a terrible jam without further damage.
Matt Brash relieved Gabe Speier and retired the Tigers in order to end the 8th.
In the 9th, Tommy Kahnle came in. He’s been rough lately, and…he immediately blew the tie by allowing yet ANOTHER solo HR to a Mariner, this time a pinch-hitting Jorge Polanco. Then he did it again, to Young.
Then he walked a batter and was pulled, not having gotten a single out. Something is very wrong with Kahnle in July. Brenan Hanifee came to stem the bleeding but immediately made it worse, allowing an RBI double to Crawford. The Tigers intentionally walked Raleigh. Rodríguez stole third and a poor throw from Dingler allowed him to score and got Raleigh all the way to third as well.
Hanifee finally got it going, retiring the next three batters…but the score was now 8-4 Seattle with 3 outs remaining. Not exactly ideal.
The Tigers had three outs to play with and a four-run deficit to overcome. Andrés Muñoz relieved Brash and the Mariners put in some defensive replacements. Meadows smacked a ball but Donovan Solano, inserted for defense, made a leaping play to rob him of a hit. Báez smoked a grounder…that was corralled and thrown to first. Trey Sweeney struck out swinging and that was that. Final: Mariners 8, Tigers 4.
The Tigers have their first four-game losing streak of the entire season, which is pretty incredible. Their pitching has been highly suspect the last few days, so a break is kind of a godsend at this point. The team sends six players and one ball boy to the All-Star game, so it’s worth watching this year. The team returns to play on July 18th at the Texas Rangers for a three-game series.