The Detroit Tigers opened up June with a white-knuckle 10-9 win over the Tampa Bay Rays in St. Petersburg, as one of the worst teams in the majors took down the top squad in the American League. AJ Hinch’s squad went wire-to-wire in the victory, but the team nearly collapsed in characteristic fashion in the final innings.
The Tigers can string together two straight victories for the first time since the opening days of May on Tuesday, but they will have to do it with right-hander Jack Flaherty on the mound.
To his credit, the 30-year-old has done an admirable job over the past starts, limiting his free passes to just one while keeping up his strikeout totals with 20 over the last 15 innings of work.
Still, Detroit is just 2-10 this season with Flaherty on the mound. The last time the Tigers won with him starting was back on April 15 against the Kansas City Royals in what was easily his best outing of the 2026 campaign — a six-inning effort that saw him cough up a run on two hits and three walks while striking out seven.
Up against him is left-hander Steven Matz, who had a string of three straight solid starts — two of them of the quality variety — snapped last time out against the Baltimore Orioles, who shelled him for six runs on seven hits (one home run) and two walks while striking out two over three innings.
The 35-year-old saw the Tigers thrice last season — once with the St. Louis Cardinals and the other two with the Boston Red Sox, all in relief — holding Detroit scoreless across four frames of work, surrendering just one hit and zero walks while striking out three. We will see if he can bring that same mojo to the mound on Tuesday night.
Detroit Tigers (23-38) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (36-21)
Time (ET): 6:40 p.m.
Place: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida
SB Nation Site: DRaysBay
Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network
Game 62: RHP Jack Flaherty (0-7, 5.81 ERA) vs. LHP Steven Matz (4-2, 4.67 ERA)
FLAHERTY
MATZ
