PHOENIX – Jack Flaherty continues to dominate.
The 28-year-old signed with the Detroit Tigers and agreed to a one-year, $14 million deal in free agency because he wanted to improve under a new pitching department. After nine starts, Flaherty is performing like a reborn star.
Flaherty blinked first in Saturday’s pitching duel against Arizona Diamondbacks right-hander Zac Gallen, but the Tigers responded immediately.
“The better at-bats you have, the more you don’t have to hit a home run to score,” manager AJ Hinch said. “We just kept taking good at-bats after good at-bats. I’m proud of our group. It wasn’t easy today.”
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The Tigers scored six runs in the seventh inning en route to an 8-3 victory in the second of three games of the series at Chase Field. Rookie Wenceel Pérez cleared the bases loaded with a triple to break the tie and create separation on the scoreboard.
Flaherty earned his first personal win of the season, thanks to his reliable slider and the Tigers’ offense.
“What you want is for the team to win,” Flaherty said.
After the Diamondbacks scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning against Flaherty, the Tigers (23-22) responded against Gallen in the top of the seventh inning with an RBI double by Javier Báez and an RBI single by Carson Kelly, tying the score. I play two races.
“The whole offense came together against one guy,” Flaherty said. “Zac is really tough. He’s one of the best guys in the league. He was really good for a long time tonight, but the guys stepped up and finally recovered.”
The seventh inning began with a double by Gio Urshela and, despite strikeouts by Colt Keith and Spencer Torkelson, the Tigers did not retire with two outs. That’s when Báez and Kelly hit scoring hits to chase Gallen.
Left-handed reliever Joe Mantiply couldn’t stop the bleeding.
Riley Greene launched a third-pitch sinker to left field for a double, putting two runners in scoring position, then the Diamondbacks intentionally walked Mark Canha to load the bases.
Pérez hit his second triple of the game to clear the bases and put the Tigers ahead, 5-2, in the seventh inning. Perez, a switch-hitter who batted from the right side of the plate, swung on a downshift and drove the ball into the gap in left-center field.
“I was just trying to put the ball in play,” Perez said. “He knew he was going to attack me because he had the bases loaded, so he wasn’t going to walk me. He was trying to be aggressive in the zone, so I was trying to put the ball in play.”
Perez clenched his fist and shouted in celebration after reaching third base on his feet. He is hitting .300 with a .906 OPS in 28 games in his MLB career.
“I’ll hit him third,” Hinch said. “The best thing I can do is show him over and over again that we believe in him by putting him out there. He’s been unbelievable. He came up at a really important time, hit a big shot to separate us. A good pitch to hit, which is really key.”
Still, the Tigers weren’t done scoring.
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The Tigers increased their lead to 6-2 when Urshela, who led off the inning with a double, hit a high-speed sinker from right-handed reliever Justin Martinez for an RBI single in the infield.
Gallen allowed three runs on seven hits with 10 strikeouts in 6⅔ innings, without issuing a walk. He generated 12 of 20 strikeouts with his curveball.
The other three races were run by Mantiply.
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Jack Flaherty
Flaherty allowed two runs, five hits and two walks with nine strikeouts and threw 98 pitches. In 2024, he has a 3.79 ERA with eight walks and 72 strikeouts in 54⅔ innings.
“Both he and Gallen were face to face, doing their thing,” Hinch said. “Two really good pitchers with no margin for error. Both pitches were really good… Another quality start for him.”
The Diamondbacks finally got to Flaherty in the sixth inning.
It started with a Kevin Newman single, and two batters later, Ketel Marte, extending his hitting streak to 17 games, crushed a fly fastball for an RBI triple to left-center field. The Diamondbacks took a 1-0 lead and extended their lead to 2-0 on Joc Pederson’s RBI single.
“I’d love to get a couple pitches tonight,” Flaherty said. “The 1-2 curveball to Joc, he’s done pretty well against me throughout his career, but if I throw it lower, and probably that pitch to Marte, if I’m a little bit closer to him.”
Flaherty escaped without further damage to complete his ninth start of the season. Until the sixth, Flaherty seemed unstoppable against the Diamondbacks.
He struck out the first nine batters before Corbin Carroll, the reigning NL Rookie of the Year who has struggled since winning the award, shifted into the right-field corner for a leadoff triple in the fourth inning.
But Flaherty stranded Carroll in the hot corner. He struck out Ketel Marte with a slider and Christian Walker with a fastball, his seventh and eighth strikeouts.
Flaherty generated 17 strikeouts in 43 swings (a 39.5% strikeout rate) with four fastballs, 10 sliders and three curveballs. The D-backs swung at 18 sliders and missed 10 times.
“He’s been really good this year,” Flaherty said of his slider. “It was a pitch I didn’t really have last year, but it’s been really good this year. I’ve executed a lot with it.”
More runs for the Tigers
The Tigers added two more runs in the eighth inning to take an 8-2 lead. This time, the Tigers shook right-handed reliever Kevin Ginkel.
Kelly hit an RBI double and Pérez delivered a sacrifice fly.
Right-handed reliever Alex Lange, left-handed reliever Andrew Chafin and right-handed reliever Beau Brieske kept the Diamondbacks from coming back in the final three innings, although Chafin allowed a run in the eighth.
Báez went 3-for-4 with five RBIs in Friday’s 13-0 win over the Diamondbacks. He followed that up by going 4-for-5 with an RBI in Saturday’s win. His batting average has risen to .207 in 39 games this season.
“He’s a stud,” Flaherty said. “I’m happy that he had two great days in a row. I just hope to continue like this.”
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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