The Tigers continued their quest against division rivals the Cleveland Guardians tonight, with each potential Tigers’ win worth two against their magic number. They were relying on Jack Flaherty on the mound, while the Guardians had Gavin Williams.
Flaherty started out strong with a three-up, three-down inning. The Tigers, meanwhile, wasted no time getting their first baserunner of the night against Williams, as Parker Meadows doubled to start the home half. With one out, Kerry Carpenter walked. Two
outs followed, though, leaving the two baserunners stranded.
The Guardians once again went 1-2-3 in the top of the second. In the home half, Colt Keith got a one-out single. Again, though, two outs followed and no runs scored.
Flaherty’s command started to flag in the third inning and he seemed to be leaning heavily on breaking pitches as he struggled with his fastball. This opened up an opportunity for the Guardians that they did not miss. C.J. Kayfus walked, with one out, then one more out later, Steven “I don’t strike out” Kwan took a walk as well. With the two runners aboard, relative newcomer George Valera singled to bring in the first run of the game. A wild pitch by Flaherty allowed the baserunners to advance. He did manage to get the final out of the inning to keep the damage minimized. In the home half, the Tigers went 1-2-3.
In the fourth, Kyle Manzardo started things off with a double. Thankfully, three outs followed. In the home half, Riley Greene got a one-out walk, but no runs scored.
Things continued to be rocky for Flaherty in the fifth. C.J. Kayfus opened things up with a single, then Brayan Rocchio walked. A sac bunt by Kwan moved both runners into scoring position. With two outs, the team opted to walk Jose Ramirez, loading things up. In a high-stress at-bat that went to a full count, Flaherty finally got the last out against Manzardo to escape the inning unscathed. On the Tigers side of things, Parker Meadows got a two-out single, but once again, no one scored.
Jack Flaherty’s day was done after five innings. He ended up with a final line of 5.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 4 K on 95 pitches. He’s really got to get that fastball command in line again before the postseason… Anyway, Brant Hurter replaced him in the sixth and had issues of his own. Gabriel Arias got a one-out double, then stole third with absolutely no effort made to stop him. With two outs, Tommy Kahnle replaced Hurter. Angel Martinez singled to bring in the second run of the game for the Guardians. It was the only run that would score for Cleveland, but given the LOB situation the Tigers have faced in this game so far, a two-run lead isn’t nothing. Tim Herrin replaced Gavin Williams for the home half. Kerry Carpenter then singled, but managed to leg it out to second base thanks to a fielding error by Angel Martinez. Two outs followed, then the Guardians dipped into their bullpen to get to Matt Festa, who got the final out of the inning.
In the top of the seventh, the Tigers got two outs before Jose Ramirez walked. Bailey Horn replaced Kahnle, and quickly gave up a wild pitch that allowed Ramirez to advance to second. Manzardo walked, but Horn managed to curb the potential damage and get the final out of the inning. In the home half, Colt Keith got a leadoff walk, then got eliminated in a force out off the bat of Wenceel Perez. Erik Sabrowski came in out of the Guardians’ bullpen. A pinch-hitting Jahmai Jones the got a walk to put two on with one out. A pinch-hitting Andy Ibanez got to a full count, then was out on a fly for the infield fly rule. A Gleyber Torres groundout ended the inning with the Tigers once again scoreless and leaving runs on base.
Horn got two outs in the eighth before being swapped for José Urquidy, who then collected the final out. With one out in the home half, Jakob Junis was the newest reliever for Cleveland. Junis got the final two outs, and it looked like if the Tigers were going to make a comeback, they would be doing it in the ninth.
In the top of the ninth, Steven Kwan got a one-out single, then stole second. George Valera then walked. Jose Ramirez walked after a lengthy at-bat, loading the bases. Mazardo grounded into a force out, tagging out Kwan at home and avoiding the run. Josh Naylor then singled, bringing two more runs in and effectively dashing most likely opportunities for the Tigers to eke out a win. Chris Paddack came in and got the final out of the inning. It was do-or-die time for the Tigers. Detroit, unfortunately, opted for “die” and the Tigs went down without a single run.
