Flaherty pitches a gem but the pen collapses in tough loss.
Another outstanding start from Jack Flaherty went to waste on Friday night. The Detroit Tigers built an early lead, but once again watched their bullpen melt under the Phillies late assault to lose 5-4 in Game 1 of this three-game set.
With the trade deadline come and gone, the Detroit Tigers have shaken up their pitching. Two new starters and a plethora of relief arms – some of them injured, some of them AAA depth – come to a team with the best record in the AL, a large divisional lead, and playoff aspirations. Their first post-deadline series is against the Philadelphia Phillies in the city of brotherly love. The Phillies are led by former Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski and made a few splashy moves yesterday to prep for their own playoff run, as they entered half a game back of the NL East leading Mets .
The game was delayed for half an hour due to the Phillies inducting a few players into their Wall of Fame. After that, Phillies lefty Ranger Suárez was on the bump. Jahmai Jones, DHing in this one, was the first Tigers batter. He hit the first pitch to the deep part of the park but not deep enough, flying out. Gleyber Torres grounded out before Andy Ibáñez flew out. Suárez only threw seven pitches, so the gameplan must have been to jump on him early.
Taking the mound for the Tigers was Jack Flaherty. Jack’s had a mediocre season, coming in with an ERA of 4.51 (basically a quality start ERA). He pitched well in his last outing, a six inning shutout of the Toronto Blue Jays in which he struck out seven batters and only allowed a single walk.
Shortstop Trea Turner led things off against Flaherty and grounded out. Kyle Schwarber struck out, then Ibáñez made a fantastic play on a grounder to rob Bryce Harper of a single.
Neither team reached base in the second as both pitchers were dealing.
In the top of the third, Wenceel Pérez singled to center, the first baserunner for either team. On the next pitch, Javy Báez singled. Jahmai Jones hit a grounder that was tailor-made for a double play…but he hustled hard enough that he was safe by a hair at first. With two on and two out, Torres was seeing a bunch of outside pitches from Suárez. When one finally came inside, Torres didn’t miss it, absolutely crushing a ball over the left field fence for a 3-run bomb, the 150th home run of his career. The Phillies got out of the inning on a dazzling foul ball catch, but the Tigers had drawn first blood (and free Curly fries in one swing!)
Flaherty returned to the mound with a nice lead in the bottom of the 3rd. Max Kepler, the longtime Twins outfielder, hit a fly ball deep to center but Vierling was able to run it down for a harmless out. Edmundo Sosa struck out on a pitch slightly outside; the ump was giving the pitchers a wide zone. Bryson Stott battled and worked a walk, the first baserunner for the Phillies. The very next pitch was a ground ball that was easily flipped to second for the force out, ending the inning.
Suárez gave up a two-out single to Vierling, but otherwise retired the side to end the top of the frame.
Flaherty kept it going in the bottom of the 4th. He got a second Schwarber strikeout before walking Harper. After a flyout for the second out, Flaherty faced old friend Nick Castellanos. Working it to a 3-2 count, Jack threw an off-speed pitch that dropped like an anchor, striking Nick out on a filthy pitch.
After the Tigers went 1-2-3 against Suárez, Jack was back at it. He got the first two outs but ran into some trouble with the final one. Sosa hit a long fly ball that went off the wall in left, doubling. The nine hitter, Stott, walked for the second time. With the tying run at the plate, Flaherty buckled down and forced a pop-out to get out of the jam.
Suárez continued to pitch well after the home run, retiring the Tigers again. At this point he had retired seven straight batters and had settled in.
Flaherty matched him with his own 1-2-3 inning, including a fabulous strikeout of Harper for Jack’s 7th K of the game.
The Tigers continued to slump with the bats, not reaching base again. Ten straight retired through the 7th.
AJ Hinch tried to get one more batter from Jack, but Castellanos ruined that plan by singling. Hinch pulled Flaherty for lefty Tyler Holton, who faced a pinch-hitting Otto Kemp. Kemp blooped one into right field, putting two on with nobody out. Holton’s control faltered, walking pinch-hitter Harrison Bader on four pitches. With two strikes, Sosa smoked a ball towards third…that Ibáñez was able to snag for the first out. A deep fly ball scored a run on a sac fly, which was charged to Flaherty. His final line: 6IP, 2 hits, 3 walks, and 7Ks. Not too shabby.
With two outs and Trea Turner up, Hinch went back to his bullpen for the closer, Will Vest. Vest has been shaky of late…and he remained so, immediately allowing a run-scoring single to Turner. Which was immediately followed by a sharp single from Schwarber, tying the game. While Vest battled Harper, Schwarber stole 2nd base easily. On a 3-2 count, Vest threw a low pitch that Harper tried checking his swing on, but the third base ump ruled that he didn’t hold up enough, striking out. Harper immediately pitched a fit and was quickly ejected. The end result of all of this was that the game was tied going into the 8th inning, where the Tigers offense had gone ice cold and the Phillies had burned through three position player substitutions.
Philly put in righty reliever Orion Kerkering to face the bottom of the order for Detroit. On Kerkering’s second pitch, Pérez took him deep for a solo, lead-regaining home run. Báez grounded out, and a pinch-hitting Kerry Carpenter flied out. With two out, Torres made an extra base bid but Castellanos was able to run it down in right. Still, the Tigers had taken back the lead, 4-3.
Brenan Hanifee came into the game for Detroit, trying to have a clean 8th inning. He struck out J.T. Realmuto swinging. Castellanos worked a 3-2 count and he was able to single to center. Hanifee then hung a pitch that Kemp sliced to left field for a run-scoring double, tying the game. Hanifee snuck a fastball by Bader, striking him out. Sosa hit a chopper right back to Hanifee…who hurried his throw and chucked it wide of first, pulling Torkelson off the bag. Both runners safe. Hinch had seen enough and pulled him, putting in Brant Hurter for the lefty on lefty matchup. Sosa stole second without a play, followed by Stott grounding out to short but beating out a great play from Javy; this scored a run. Stott stole second – the third time the Phillies stole second with no throw due to a runner on third – and the pressure was really on. Hurter was able to get Turner swinging for a strikeout, but the damage was done. The bullpen failed, miserably, and the Phillies had taken a 5-4 lead.
Former Minnesota closer Jhoan Duran, an elite pitcher that Philadelphia traded for yesterday, came on to get his first save for his new team. Facing the meat of the Tigers order, he dominated, throwing only a few pitches and retiring the side. Game over, Tigers lose 5-4.
This game was all over the place. Exciting, tiring, frustrating, exciting again, and hair-pullingly stupid. None of the new bullpen guys pitched, so it was watching the old bullpen fall to pieces and lose the game. Guys who had been pretty good like Vest and Hanifee crumbled like dry cookies. It felt like a playoff atmosphere with a capacity crowd on hand, and the Tigers withered under the late pressure.
The Tigers will take on the Phillies in Game 2 of the series tomorrow afternoon in Philadelphia. It will be a heck of a pitching matchup as Tarik Skubal looks to even the series against another outstanding starting pitcher in RHP Zack Wheeler.