They can’t all be winners.
Happy Jackie Robinson Day everyone! The Tigers were sporting their finest 42s up against the Brewers for the second game of their three-game outing. Jack Flaherty was on the mound for the Tigers, up against Quinn Priester for the Brewers. Well they can’t all be Skubal days, Flahtery has been delightful to have back with the club, so let’s see how the game shook out for the Tigers.
Riley Greene was back in the game after getting a break yesterday, and he was among the batters to go hitless in the 1-2-3 top of the first. In the home half of the inning Jackson Chourio got a leadoff walk then got eliminated by a force out off the bat of Brice Turang. One out later, Turang stole second, but no runs scored and the Tigers got out of the inning safely.
The Tigers were once again three-up, three-down in the second. The Brewers, unfortunately started their second inning in much better form, with a leadoff solo home run by Rhys Hoskins. Flaherty was looking just a little off, his command not quite what we’ve come to expect, with pitches missing just outside the zone. Sal Frelick took advantage with a triple. A Garrett Mitchell sac fly scored Frelick and the Brewers were up 2-0 in the second. That was all they’d manage, but it put the Tigers in a rough spot, needing to play comeback rather than protecting the lead.
In the third, Zach McKinstry took a leadoff walk, then got eliminated by a force out off the bat of Javier Baez. Two more outs followed and the Tigers made no real effort to get on base in the inning. In the home half William Contreras got a two-out single, and Flaherty was visibly showing signs of frustration with both his pitches and some borderline calls. He got out of the inning without any damage done, though.
The fourth inning continued a miserable trend for the Tigers as they went down in order again. In the home half Garrett Mitchell doubled with two outs, then a Joey Ortiz single brought him home. The Brewers only got the one run, but it padded their lead.
Colt Keith walked to start the fifth, then one out later McKinstry took a walk to join him. Alas, even with two men on, the Tigers couldn’t make anything happen. With two outs in the bottom of the inning, Contreras walked, and that was the end of the day for Flaherty. His final line for the game was 4.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 1 HR on 98 pitches. Tyler Holton came on in relief, faced one batter and looked ridiculously unhittable.
Gleyber Torres kicked off the sixth with a double to bust up the no-hitter, which chased Priester from the game, bringing Jared Koenig on in relief. An Andy Ibanez flyout got Torres to third, but not before he got smack in the face with a glove, but at least he was safe on third. But even with a man 90 feet from home, the Tigers couldn’t bring him in. In the home half Hoskins singled to start things off, then got eliminated on a Frelick force out. Frelick then stole second. With two outs in the inning Brenan Hanifee replaced Holton, and got the final out of the inning with this killer move from Torres.
After one out in the seventh, Abner Uribe came out of the Brewers pen in relief. He collected the final two outs of the inning. Jackson Chourio reached first on a throwing error from Ibanez, and he then stole second. Turang then singled to put runners on the corners. Brice Turang then got tagged out in the most insane way I’ve ever seen in a force out off of Contreras. The ball, thrown by Spencer Torkelson, hit Turang in the back, then bounced over him to Trey Sweeney, who was able to get the tag before Turang reached second. This play was so bonkers I didn’t even notice that Chourio had scored.
Christian Yelich singled, then Hoskins singled to score Contreras. Things were unravelling pretty quickly for the Tigers at this point. Frelick walked. But Hanifee got out of the bases-loaded jam without any additional bleeding. Brewers were up 5-0 after seven, though.
Nick Mears was the next Brewers reliever the Tigers would face, and he got the side out in order. John Brebbia came in for the Tigers in relief. Oliver Dunn got a one-out walk. Dunn stole second and was almost able to go to third as the ball bounced and headed out into center, but thankfully Dunn wasn’t paying enough attention and was stuck at second. Turnag walked. The Brewers weren’t able to bring any more runs in, however, and it would head to the ninth, the last opportunity for the Tigers to break up the shutout.
The Tigers did not break up the shutout.
Final: Brewers 5, Tigers 0