The Tigers headed into their afternoon game with the opportunity to actually win a series for the first time in a long time. They had Jack Flaherty on the mound to pitch, up against Grayson Rodriguez for the Angels. It could be anyone’s game.
In the top of the first, Mike Trout got a one-out double, but two outs followed to leave him stranded. Colt Keith got a leadoff walk for the Tigers in the first. Then, with two outs, Riley Greene singled to put two men on, but the Tigers weren’t able to bring
either runner home.
Flaherty got into a zone (specifically finding the zone pretty nicely), and got the Angels out in order. In the home half, with two outs, Wenceel Perez homered, putting the Tigers on the board first. It was the only run they’d get for the inning, but first run is always nice.
The Angels managed only a single baserunner in the third with a one-out single by Donovan Walton, but otherwise Flaherty kept the side in check. The Tigers went 1-2-3 in the home half.
The fourth inning was likewise uneventful as both teams were three-up, three-down.
By the fifth, Flaherty’s command was starting to look a little less precise, giving up a leadoff double to Jo Adell. A wild pitch by Flaherty advanced Adell to third, then Sebastian Rivero singled into left, scoring the first Angels run. Walton then singled. Zach Neto then doubled, bringing in another run, and I choose to believe this is all Tom Selleck’s fault for eating a plain hot dog during the broadcast. Mike Trout was intentionally walked to load the bases and the wheels were pretty much off of Flaherty at this point. Vaughn Grissom hit a sac fly, bringing in another run. At the halfway mark of the inning the Angels were up 3-1. The Tigers did little to claw their way back in the home half, getting only a two-out walk from Jake Rogers and no runs.
For some reason, Flaherty was still in the game in the sixth. He made it through the first two outs before being pulled. His final line for the game was 5.2 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 9 K on 91 pitches. He started strong and had some really good innings, but I think this game makes a perfect example of why Flaherty would be better suited to a 2-3 innings bullpen role instead of a traditional starter. We’ve seen similar performances from him this season. Drew Sommers came out of the pen to get the final out of the inning. In the bottom of the inning the Angels made a pitching change as well, bringing in Drew Pomeranz. He got the Tigers out in order.
Brenan Hanifee was the new Tigers pitcher for the seventh. There was an on-field pause as Rivero appeared to call for an ABS challenge, reconsidered in the middle of tapping his head, and tried to play it off like he didn’t tap his helmet, which resulted in a big discussion amongst the umpiring crew. The decision seemed to be that he didn’t challenge, which is silly, because he clearly did challenge (and would have won the challenge, too). Anyway, silliness. He struck out. With two outs, Neto singled. Neto then stole second and was called safe, but the Tigers challenged and the call was overturned to end the inning. José Fermin came in for the bottom of the inning. Zach McKinstry got a one-out walk, but a double play then ended the inning.
Ricky Vanasco came in for the eighth and gave up a leadoff walk to Trout. Grissom then doubled, bringing Trout home. Jorge Soler singled, scoring Grissom. Wade Meckler grounded into a force out, and was then swapped for a pinch-runner in Jose Siri. Siri got tagged out trying to steal second, and the Tigers were able to get the final out after that to keep the inning from getting too far out of hand. Sam Bachman was the newest Angels pitcher out of the pen and he gave up a leadoff double to Perez. With one out, Keith walked. A Kevin McGonigle groundout advanced the baserunners, then Dingler walked to load the bases. Greene struck out though, and the Tigers’ best opportunity for a comeback turned into a pot of LOBsters.
With two outs in the ninth, Walton singled. Neto walked. Trout doubled, scoring two more runs. The Tigers were down to their last chance in the bottom of the ninth and they’d do it against Ryan Zeferjahn. McKinstry got a one-out walk. One more out later, Perez walked (have a day, Wenceel). It didn’t matter, though, the Tigers weren’t able to right the ship, and they dropped the series. At least they got a win out of it yesterday to avoid the sweep.
