Detroit Tigers' bullpen blows lead after Jack Flaherty stars in 5-4 loss to Phillies
That's how it looked in his latest performance.
Flaherty allowed just one run in six-plus innings, but the Tigers' bullpen squandered his dominance in a 5-4 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday, Aug. 1, in the first of three games at Citizens Bank Park. Four relievers gave up five runs in the seventh and eighth innings.
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The Phillies took the lead on Bryson Stott's infield single, which drove in the game-winning run in the eighth inning. After that, new Phillies closer Jhoan Duran — acquired from the Minnesota Twins for two top-100 prospects at the trade deadline — slammed the door on the Tigers in the ninth inning.
The Tigers (64-47) lost for the first time in five games.
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Jack Flaherty stars in Philadelphia
Flaherty allowed one run on two hits and three walks with seven strikeouts in six-plus innings, throwing 60 of 95 pitches for strikes. The Phillies didn't get their first hit until two outs in the fifth inning.
The 29-year-old has a 4.36 ERA in 22 starts.
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For the first hit, Edmundo Sosa connected on a two-strike slider for a long fly ball to left field. The ball bounced off the top of the wall, allowing Sosa to pull in for a double.
Flaherty walked the next batter, but he stranded runners on the corners by getting Trea Turner to pop out, ending the fifth. In the sixth, he sent down three batters in a row — Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper, J.T. Realmuto — in his third time through the heart of the lineup.
He struck out Harper with a nasty slider.
Flaherty generated 15 whiffs on 44 swings for a 34.1% whiff rate: three fastballs, seven sliders, five curveballs. The velocity was up on all of his pitches, including a 1.5 mph increase on his slider.
Gleyber Torres hits milestone
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For the Phillies, left-hander Ranger Suárez shut down the Tigers for the majority of his 92-pitch performance, but he still allowed three runs on four hits and zero walks with five strikeouts across seven innings — all because of Gleyber Torres.
In the third inning, Torres hit a three-run home run against Suárez's up-and-in cutter after he refused to swing at four outside pitches, working a 3-1 count.
The three-ball count got him a good pitch to hit.
And Torres didn't miss.
It was the 150th home run of his MLB career.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
Listen to our weekly Tigers show "Days of Roar" every Monday afternoon on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at freep.com/podcasts.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers waste Jack Flaherty gem in 5-4 loss to Phillies
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