Jack Flaherty tossed a good game, and got a little early run support in this one. The Tigers led 3-0 from the second inning on, largely courtesy of a Riley Greene two-run homer. Nascent relief ace Keider Montero put this game on his shoulders once Flaherty departed, collecting the final nine outs to earn his first regular season save.
The Tigers were wearing their road grays in this one, but with white Fourth of July hats, USA 250 patches, and with the numbers and logos on the jersey styled the American
flag. The Rangers were in all white, but with the same flag patterning in their numbers and logos on their jerseys and hats.
The good guys got right to work in this one. Cal Quantrill got Kevin McGonigle and Dillon Dinger to open the game, but Kerry Carpenter lined a single to center field. Riley Greene stepped into the box, got himself a 2-2 cutter up in the zone and hammered it to right field for a two-run shot and a 2-0 lead.
Greene’s 12th homer of the year came on the heels of a strong July with seven homers and a 133 wRC+ as he continues to heat up after a slow start in the power department this season.
Jack Flaherty gave up a leadoff single to Joc Pederson, but a rocket off the bat of Josh Smith was run down at the warning track by James Outman on a nice play. Pederson was already around second base and had to retreat in haste. Josh Jung took a called third strike, and Brandon Nimmo grounded out to Spencer Torkelson to end the inning.
Colt Keith opened the second inning, lining a single to center field. Zach McKinstry lifted a fly ball down the left field foul line and Alejandro Osuna over-ran it. The ball spun back into fair territory and got down for an error than got McKinstry to second and Keith to third. Ben Malgeri quickly grounded out to shortstop and that was enough to get the run home. 3-0 Tigers.
Outman grounded out to first base, and McKinstry had to hold at third with Kevin McGonigle up. Quantrill was struggling, and the Tigers’ rookie worked him into a walk, extending what already felt like a long inning. The right-hander was trying to pitch Dillon Dingler inside to avoid further damage, but instead he clipped him to load the bases.
So, that brought Carpenter up to bat with the bases juiced. Unfortunately, he flew out to center field to finally end the inning with just one run to the Tigers’ tally.
Osuna and Ezequiel Duran lined and grounded out, respectively, to start the bottom half. Flaherty got ahead of Evan Carter with a nasty changeup, but then clipped his back foot with a slider. That brought Rangers’ catcher Elias Diaz to the dish. He grounded one into the six hole, but McGonigle made a nice play and a strong throw to end the inning.
Quantrill got fly outs from Greene and Torkelson to open the third. Keith swung through a heater away in a full count to send us to the bottom half.
Flaherty continued to be aggressive with fastballs while the Rangers looked to be sitting soft as their lineup turned over for the first time. Nicky Lopez and Pederson grounded out to first in the bottom of the third. In a 2-2 count, Flaherty spotted a nice 95 mph fourseamer that froze Josh Smith for the third out of the frame.
Quantrill settled in with a quick inning in the top of the fourth. He got McKinstry, Malgeri, and Outman on routine contact to send it back to Flaherty in the bottom half.
Jung gave Flaherty an eight-pitch battle to start things off, but he flew out to Malgeri in front of the warning track. Nimmo tried to hold up on a high fourseamer, but he failed, striking out as Flaherty’s third victim of the outing. Osuna quickly popped out to Keith in foul territory, and that was seven straight set down by the Tigers’ right-hander.
Quantrill continued dealing as well. He got McGonigle to fly out the opposite way. Dingler and Carpenter grounded out, and we were on to the bottom of the fifth. Still 3-0 Tigers.
Flaherty got ahead of Duran with a knuckle curve down, and then a fourseamer above the zone. He missed with two pitches as Duran laid off, but a fastball away got him on a fly ball to Outman. Carter lined a single to left center where Outman hesitated after a long run, dove, and fortunately knocked the ball down to avoid giving up extra bases. Flaherty missed with two breaking balls to Diaz, but the catcher fouled off a couple of fastballs and then couldn’t quite hold up on a knuckle curve and struck out. Flaherty throughout kept a close eye on Carter at first. He got ahead of Nicky Lopez and eventually coaxed a ground out to Torkelson to end the inning. Love these walk-free Jack Flaherty starts.
Quantrill was done after five, and instead we saw our old friend, Todd the Painter, or Tyler Alexander as he’s more commonly known. The lefty looked pretty good too. He froze Riley Greene, and whiffed Torkelson. Colt Keith squared him up, but Carter ran it down in center field.
Pederson was up for the third time as the bottom of the sixth got underway. Flaherty was at 75 pitches, so right on pace for a strong six inning outing. He hadn’t had a baserunner past first base to this point, and he blew Pederson away with a high fourseamer for his fifth strikeout to start the inning. He fed Smith breaking stuff and changeups early, eventually getting him to fly out to Malgeri with a well located changeup down. The increased changeup use is an interesting development against lefties.
Josh Jung saw a mix of fastballs instead, and eventually he lined one just past Outman to the wall for a double. The Tigers had the pen warm, and that was it for Flaherty, but it was another strong effort. 5.2 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 0 BB, 5 K. That’s six quality outings in a row for the right-hander, who we all naturally wanted to punt into the sun back in late April and early May.
Tyler Holton, who replaced Alexander as the Tigers’ resident Tyler, and resident lefty all-purpose reliever, came on to get Nimmo. He did the job, inducing a grounder to McKinstry at second to turn the Rangers away in the sixth.
Right-hander Ben Peoples was up next for Skip Schumaker and the Rangers, making his major league debut. Peoples has a pretty good fastball-slider combo and he got a quick ground out from McKinstry. Ben Malgeri singled into the hole at shortstop to get the Tigers back into business with Outman up and McGonigle looming. Outman bit on a slider and punched out as Peoples first victim in the major leagues. McGonigle was swinging first pitch throughout this game, and he did again on a first-pitch fastball, grounding out to end the inning.
Keider Montero took over from Holton in the seventh, fresh off an outstanding relief appearance his last time out in which he stuffed the Yankees twice in extra innings to lead the Tigers to a sweep. The Tigers badly need him in high leverage right now, and Montero continues to deal in any role. Osuna flew out to right to start things off. The speedy Duran grounded out softly to McGonigle, who retired him with a slick transfer and a strong throw. Montero tried to start Carter off with soft stuff, but he missed twice and then missed with a pair of fastballs to walk the center fielder. It didn’t hurt him, as Diaz grounded out to McKinstry to end the inning.
The Tigers had Dingler, Carpenter, and Greene up in the top of the eighth, and some add on runs would help the cause with six outs left to collect for the bullpen. Dingler flew out in the right field corner to start things off. Carpenter climbed the ladder for a fastball, but he too flew out to Nimmo in right. Greene got jammed by Peoples really straight, almost cutting, fourseamer, but fought it off just over Nicky Lopez into right field for a single. Torkelson drove a heater hard to the warning track in center field, but Carter had it all the way and ended the inning.
Montero was at 12 pitches after the seventh, so he had plenty left for the eighth. Lopez started the bottom of the eighth, grounding one to Torkelson’s right. The Tigers first baseman made a nice diving stop and then led Montero perfectly with a firm throw for the first out of the inning. Pederson did just about the same thing for the second out, but Torkelson didn’t have to go to the ground for that one. A nasty changeup to Smith drew an even weaker ground ball to McKinstry, and Montero was through two innings with 21 pitches thrown. We hoped AJ Hinch was thinking the same thing we all were, just ride Keider to the finish line.
Veteran right-hander Chris Martin was up to handle the top of the ninth for the Rangers. He got ahead of Keith 0-2, but then missed with three straight to get the count full. Keith spoiled a couple of well located heaters, but then took another one for strike three. McKinstry got a first pitch sweeper and lined it to center for a single. Malgeri grounded to second as McKinstry took off on the pitch. That got McKinstry to second, while Lopez retired Malgeri at first. Outman flicked a soft liner to shortstop to send us to the bottom of the ninth.
It was indeed Montero hunting a nine-out save as he battled Jung, Nimmo, and Osuna. Jung gave him a real battle, and the ninth pitch of the at-bat was a hot one-hopper to third. Keith made a fine diving stop, hopped to his feet and fired a strike to Torkelson for the first out of the inning. Montero and Torkelson were fired up by that play. Nimmo got a 1-0 curveball and hit it a long way to center, but Outman was there to record the second out. Osuna padded a grounder up the middle, and McGonigle handled that for the final out.
Strong performance again from Keider Montero. Good to get right back on the horse with a Fourth of July victory after the loss on Thursday. The offense was pretty quiet, but it’s about time the Tigers win more low scoring games.
