At least the view was nice.
Coming off a win on Sunday, the Tigers were hoping to transition that into a winning series against the Pirates in Pittsburgh. They’d have to deal with Paul Skenes to open the series, though, while the Tigers turned to Jack Flaherty. Let’s see how that played out.
The Tigers went 1-2-3 to start the first inning. In the bottom of the inning, Spencer Horwitz singled to start things out, then with two outs, Nick Gonzales singled, but the Pirates ultimately left him stranded.
The Tigers once again went down in order in the top of the second. In the home half, Jack Flaherty’s command issues really became clear. Ke’Bryan Hayes started the inning with a single, then two outs followed, one with mighty fine effort by Parker Meadows. Then Isiah Kiner-Falefa walked, followed by an RBI single from Horwitz. Andrew McCutchen walked, and then a Bryan Reynolds single brought two more runs in. At the end of the second, the Pirates were up 3-0, and relievers were already warming in the pen.
Parker Meadows was the Tigers’ first baserunner of the day with a leadoff double in the third. Matt Vierling then singled, however three outs followed to leave the Tigers scoreless. In the home half, Hayes got a one-out single, then another out later, Henry Davis took a walk. The Pirates failed to bring any additional runs in.
In the top of the fourth, Spencer Torkelson got a one-out single, then with two outs, Dillon Dingler got a free bag after being hit by a pitch. Both runners were left stranded, and the Tigers continued to be scoreless in the game. Flaherty’s day was done after three innings, and he was replaced in the fourth by Dietrich Enns. While Flaherty did strike out six in his three innings of work, he showed concerning signs of command issues that we’ve been seeing for several weeks now. McCutchen got a one-out single off Enns. With two outs, McCutchen was caught stealing. The Pirates challenged the play, but the call on the field was upheld, and the inning was done.
With two outs in the top of the fifth, Colt Keith drew a walk, but it wasn’t enough to get the Tigers on the board. The Pirates went down in order in the home half.
In the top of the sixth, the Tigers went 1-2-3. Tommy Pham came in as a pinch-hitter in the home half and got a single. Two outs later, Horwitz singled. That was it for Enns. Chase Lee came out of the bullpen and got the final out of the inning.
Braxton Ashcraft replaced Skenes after six innings. With two outs, Matt Vierling walked. However, a force out off the bat of Trey Sweeney ended the inning. In the home half, the Pirates went 1-2-3.
Dennis Santana was the next Pirates pitcher to enter the game. Gleyber Torres got a one-out single, but two outs followed to end the inning. Tommy Kahnle came in to relieve Lee in the bottom of the eighth.
David Bednar came in for the top of the ninth, looking to keep the Tigers in check. With one out, Dingler singled, but then Parker Meadows hit into a force out, eliminating Dingler but getting Meadows safely to first. Vierling struck out to end the game, and the Tigers were shut out in their third loss in four days.