What began as a pleasant day at the ballpark quickly soured, then sweetened, then soured again. Starting pitcher Jack Flaherty walked eight steps closer to opting into his 2026 player option, and eight steps further away from starting ALDS game 2 this postseason, allowing eight earned runs and blowing two very different one-run leads on the day.
Flaherty’s 2025 ERA now sits at an ugly 4.87 figure, and the Tigers fall just short, 10-8, on Magnum P.I. Day at the ballpark. (Sorry, Tom Selleck; you tried.)
Today’s action kicked off in the second inning, Riley Greene launched a solo home run off of Seth Lugo to open the day’s (copious) scoring, putting the Tigers ahead 1-0. Greene attacked a changeup early in the count for his 31st home run of the year and 95th RBI of the season, matching Spencer Torkelson’s 2023 season total (the highest by a Tiger since the franchise opted to rebuild at the 2017 trade deadline).
Between that, eight consecutive outs from Jack Flaherty to open the day, and a Detroit crowd full of Tom Selleck impersonators, the vibes within Comerica Park’s confines were excellent for just under three innings of today’s action.
But while Flaherty was sharp early, the Royals ambushed Flaherty for a six-run, seven-hit two-out rally. Flaherty surrendered seven straight hits to Kansas City with nobody on, two outs, and a 1-0 lead: a single to Luke Maile, an RBI double to Mike Yastrzemski, an RBI single to Bobby Witt Jr, a two-run home run to Vinnie Pasquatino, an RBI double to Salvador Perez, and a double to Adam Frazier (who advanced to third on an error by Jahmai Jones that didn’t end up mattering in the score column).
By the end of the rally, a massive flock of boo-birds in the Comerica concourse began to collectively hum their birdsong, and Detroit’s 1-0 lead became a 6-1 deficit. Ouch.
The negative reinforcement from Comerica’s boo-birds awoke the Tigers’ bats, thankfully. While Flaherty temporarily found his footing and pitched through the fifth inning without surrendering further damage, the white-hot Tigers offense refused to relent.
Their comeback began with one out in the fourth inning and Tom Selleck (and his mustache!) in the booth: Riley Greene walked, Dillon Dingler singled, and Zach McKinstry took a hit-by-pitch, setting the table for a beautiful bases-clearing double from Jahmai Jones to cut the Royals’ lead to 6-4.
Of course, that wasn’t all for the Detroit offense. Budding star Wenceel Pérez opened the fifth inning with a solo home run to cut the K.C. lead to 6-5…
…and one single and one out later, Seth Lugo’s day was over. With Angel Zerpa on the mound, Riley Greene beat out a potential inning-ending double play, and Dillon Dingler knotted things all up 6-6…
…and Zach McKinstry singled to give Detroit a 7-6 lead!
From here, to quote Yogi Berra, it was “deja vu all over again.” With a one-run lead once again in hand, Jack Flaherty allowed a double to Jonathan India and a single to Adam Frazier, ending his day and bringing in Tyler Holton. Despite Tyler Holton’s past success, he currently holds the second-worst FIP of any Tigers relief arm (the worst being Tigers public enemy #1, Tommy Kahnle; more on him shortly).
Holton proceeded to allow a two-run single to Kyle Isbel on a hanging sinker down the center of the plate, putting Kansas City back up 8-7. Luke Maile then bunted Kyle Isbel to third, and after a Randal Grichuk pop-out and Bobby Witt Jr. intentional walk, one of two wild sweepers that didn’t even register on MLB Gameday’s strike zone allowed Kyle Isbel to score, putting K.C. up 9-7.
Holton would then be relieved by Brenan Hanifee in the seventh inning, who allowed a Maikel Garcia home run to put the Tigers behind 10-7 before wiggling out of a messy inning of his own. (I knew I should’ve never posted a nice stat about our bullpen ERA into the Bless You Boys Feed…)
Somehow, the six-run rally wasn’t all that Detroit had in the tanks. Facing Lucas Erceg in the seventh inning, Spencer Torkelson launched his 28th home run of the year. The solo home run was Erceg’s first home run allowed on a fastball all season, and fourth allowed on his fastball in his entire career.
Now down 10-8, the Tigers secured a hit-by-pitch off Riley Greene’s foot, bringing the tying run up to the plate again in Dillon Dingler, who hit the ball hard but straight to Adam Frazier. Zach McKinstry then hit the ball 362 feet to right field… and into Adam Frazier’s glove once more, feet short of another game-tying knock.
Speaking of that public enemy number one, Tommy Kahnle, he got his first appearance in nine days in the eighth inning of this one. In a hilarious and ironic twist, Kahnle was Detroit’s best pitcher on the day, securing a 1-2-3 inning against Randal Grichuk, Bobby Witt Jr, and Vinnie Pasquatino in just 11 pitches.
In fact, I was so confident that this would happen while recapping the game that I wrote this entire paragraph before Kahnle secured his first out. To make things even funnier, Kahnle struck out Witt Jr. swinging.
After Kahnle’s scoreless appearance, the Tigers went down without a fight, surrendering one-two-three to Jonathan Bowlan and Carlos Estévez. Recent acquisition Rafael Montero would go on to walk Maikel Garcia and Jonathan India while wiggling out of the top of the ninth, but that was all for this one.
In short, despite a six-run rally and a continued comeback effort beyond a second pitching staff choke, the Tigers settled today for a fifth consecutive series win.
Next up: A quick six-game road trip to Sacramento to face the Athletics, followed by three games at Kauffman Stadium in K.C. against these same Royals before Detroit returns home for a six-game homestand against the Mets and White Sox to open September.
