The Detroit Tigers had one goal in mind on Wednesday evening: salvage one win from a three-game home series against the Boston Red Sox. It wasn’t meant to be, though, as the Crimson Hosiery completed the sweep with a 4-0 shutout victory.
Making the start for the Tigers tonight was Jack Flaherty, whose troubles have been well-documented. His previous start, against the Rangers, did not go well: he didn’t make it out of the fourth and had trouble finding the plate as, as we’ve seen before, an inning spins wildly out of control for him. I feel for the guy; he’s been open about the sorts of things he’s been battling when he’s on the mound.
The ageless Sonny Gray started for Boston. He’d been on the shelf since a short start against the Tigers in Boston on April 20, and had only pitched in a simulated game before taking the mound tonight. He had a lot of great years in Oakland, then has bounced around a bit since then. But he’s been pretty reliable striking guys out, not walking too many, and keeping the ball in the yard — plus, has more pitches than a struggling Hollywood screenwriter.
Flaherty started off great, striking out the first five batters he faced with pinpoint control. But, as has been the case too often, a bit of adversity opens up into a whole lot of trouble: in the third an infield single and a hit-batsman was followed by a double, Dillon Dingler doing yeoman’s work behind the plate corralling some pitches in the dirt. When the Red Sox were making contact it was generally hard as well, and you had to think, well, here we go again. A sacrifice fly made it 2-0, and Flaherty managed to limit the damage.
Going back in time to the bottom of the second, a Riley Greene double and a pair of walks to Zach McKinstry and Spencer Torkelson loaded the bases with two out. Jace Jung lifted a shallow fly ball to right field and Wilyer Abreu made a sliding grab to save at least one run, probably two.
The Tigers put together another threat in the bottom of the third when back-to-back singles by Colt Keith and Greene put two runners on, but Dingler struck out and the inning was over.
Flaherty got into trouble again in the fourth: Trevor Story, who is apparently fine after getting a fastball in the back on Tuesday night, popped out to Torkelson at first who made a nice play against the netting. But then a single and a four-pitch walk put a pair on, and after a strikeout for the second out, a grounder to third went right past Keith on a play he should’ve made and both runners scored for a 4-0 Boston lead.
But then Flaherty struck out the side in the fifth inning so, as the kids these days say, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ . That was the end of his night, and his final line went thusly: 5 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 10 K. I forget what the word for a unique starting pitcher’s line is — “boxscorigami” would be great if that isn’t already it — but if that’s such an instance, I wouldn’t be surprised. Except for those hiccups and when his defence let him down, at this point? I’ll take it. I assume people have a lot to say about Flaherty and his start tonight; feel free to give your opinion. (Let’s face it, you folks never need to be asked twice to give your opinion! But we dig that around here.)
Drew Anderson took over in the top of the sixth, and he had his changeup — the “kick-change” he’d honed in South Korea which acts like a split-fingered fastball — working nicely. He got a pair of strikeouts on it in the sixth, along with another on a curveball.
In the seventh, though, Anderson twice was ahead of a hitter 0-2 and ended up walking him, with the Scarlet Stockings getting runners on the corners with one out. He walked another after being up 1-2, leaving with the bases loaded and one out; Brant Hurter was then brought into the second-stickiest situation there is. Abreu had a big swing at a sweeper for the second out, and Story grounded out sharply to shortstop for the third out, and Hurter admirably got the job done.
In the bottom of the seventh Zach McKinstry walked with one out against rookie righty Tyler Samaniego, but Torkelson struck out and Wenceel Pérez flew out to centre.
Kyle Finnegan took over for Hurter to start the eighth; he’s had a bunch of good outings lately. He walked a pair of batters with one out to get in a bit of a jam, but he turned a comebacker into a 1-4-3 double play to end the inning.
In the past couple of years, this would be the time the Gritty Tigs would make an appearance: behind a bit, top of the order up? Kevin McGonigle lined out to right, but a pair of walks to Matt Vierling and Keith put two runners on… alas, Greene and Dingler both struck out on high cutters, and that was that for the eighth. And the Tigers capped it off by going meekly 1-2-3 in the ninth to complete the sweep.
Final score: Red Sox 4, Tigers 0
“This is a simple game.”
“You throw the ball, you hit the ball, you catch the ball.”
YOU GOT IT?!
Numbers and Notes
- Dillon Dingler’s walk-up song: “Edge of Seventeen” by Stevie Nicks.
- Dillon Dingler’s uniform number: 17.
- If a Tiger hitter ever wears the number 96 — nobody has yet — I hope they go with “96 Tears” by Michigan’s own ? and the Mysterians as they come to the plate.
- Jack Flaherty struck out the first five batters he faced, and the last four batters he faced. Has that ever been done before? Someone call Jayson Stark!
- Old Friend™ Matthew Boyd injured himself while playing with his kids at home. I hear ya, Matty.
- On this day in 1889 the Eiffel Tower was officially opened to the public as part of the Universal Exposition in Paris (a world’s fair). It was originally going to only be a temporary structure during the Exposition and then torn down, but I guess people seemed to like it enough to keep it around.
- The Royals’ ace, Cole Ragans, left tonight’s game against the Guardian with what is described as elbow/triceps soreness. It’s not safe out there, kids.
