Jack Flaherty walked two batters in the third inning.
He paid for his mistakes.
The Detroit Tigers lost, 3-0, to the Athletics on Wednesday, June 25, in the second of three games in the series at Comerica Park, as the A’s were fueled by Nick Kurtz’s three-run home run with two outs after Flaherty’s two walks in the third inning.
Kurtz destroyed Flaherty’s changeup — located middle-down in the strike zone — for a 438-foot homer that landed above the first row of shrubs in center field.
Meanwhile, the Tigers (50-31) struggled on offense as the 2025 season reached its mathematical halfway mark.
Flaherty, who owns a 4.80 ERA in 16 starts, allowed three runs on five hits and four walks with seven strikeouts across six innings, throwing 90 pitches. The 29-year-old has walked at least three batters in each of his past four starts, including a total of 12 free passes in his last three starts.
There were flashes of improvements — an unpick in velocity on several of his pitch types, a curveball that generated 11 whiffs on 15 swings, five of six innings without allowing a run — but he continued to struggle with his command.
Facing Flaherty, the Athletics had a runner on base in all but the first inning.
In the second inning, Flaherty escaped runners on the corners after a walk and a single. In the fourth, he also avoided damage with runners on the corners after a walk and a single. In the fifth, he worked around a two-out single. In the sixth, he surrendered a leadoff single, but catcher Dillon Dingler threw out the runner trying to steal second base.
Dingler — one of MLB’s best defensive catchers, in all categories — boasts a 37.5% caught stealing rate, well above the MLB average of 22.6%.
The homer from Kurtz in the third inning made the difference.
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Shut down by Jacob Lopez
The Tigers entered Wednesday as MLB’s third-best offense against left-handed pitchers, with a 124 wRC+ that trailed only the Houston Astros (126) and New York Yankees (125).
But the Tigers came up empty against A’s left-hander Jacob Lopez, who fired seven scoreless innings on three hits and one walk with six strikeouts.
He threw 103 pitches.
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The Tigers had their best scoring opportunity in the seventh inning, when Wenceel Pérez delivered a one-out triple. But Zach McKinstry struck out swinging and Dingler popped out to strand him at third base.
Detroit finished 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position.
Lopez — who allowed hits to Pérez, Jahmai Jones and Riley Greene — entered Wednesday’s start with a 4.25 ERA, but he improved his mark to 3.56 after shutting down the Tigers in his 11th game (and his seventh start).
One final chance
The Athletics called on right-handed reliever Mason Miller to protect a three-run lead in the bottom of the ninth inning, with Greene, Spencer Torkelson and Pérez due up for the Tigers.
Greene and Torkelson struck out swinging, then Pérez grounded out to end the game.
Miller blanked the Tigers for his 15th save.
Miller finished fourth in American League Rookie of the Year voting in 2024, following his first All-Star Game appearance. He had a 2.49 ERA with 104 strikeouts in 65 innings last season, but he hasn’t been as dominant this season, posting a 4.85 ERA with 49 strikeouts in 29⅔ innings.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: One swing makes difference for Jack Flaherty in Detroit Tigers’ 3-0 loss vs Athletics
Reporting by Evan Petzold, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
