The News’ Tony Paul gives his quick takes on the Tigers’ 4-0 loss to the Red Sox on Wednesday:
One thing I loved
The easy answer is, the series is over. That’s the one thing I loved. It was three days of pure misery for the Tigers, who lost their ace, lost their cool — and, as a result, their manager for one game and their second-best starter (and alleged new ace) for five games — and they lost all three games. They entered the series with three losses at home all season, and three days later, they were embarrassingly swept by a Red Sox team that not even two weeks ago fired their World Series-winning manager and five coaches. Woof. Fine time to skip town, methinks.
But there was actually one bright spot Wednesday, and that was Jack Flaherty. The Tigers need starting-pitching solutions, and Flaherty looked much more like 2024 Flaherty than 2026 Flaherty in the series finale, striking out the first five batters of the game and 10 for the game. The 10 strikeouts were his most in a game since August 2024, after the Tigers had traded him to the Los Angeles Dodgers. He absolutely pounded the zone, with 70% of his pitches for strikes. It was his best strike percentage of the season, by a wide margin.
Problem is, Flaherty only lasted five innings, and he left the game trailing, 4-0, but I can’t in good conscience put this one him. He allowed just three hits and one walk (a season low), while hitting a batter (unintentionally, for reals, this time!). This was his best start of the year, something the Tigers desperately need him to build on.
But his defense blew it, big-time, and the Tigers (18-20) are two games under .500 for the first time since April 12.
One thing I didn’t
The Tigers don’t lead Major League Baseball in errors. But they’re the worst defensive team in baseball. Your eyes should tell you that, and if you need reinforcements, the advanced metrics glumly have your back.
Entering Wednesday night, the Tigers were dead last in MLB with negative-15 runs prevented, according to Statcast. In an even more-advanced stat, the Tigers were at negative-19 in outs above average, a highfalutin formula that calculates all plays for a fielder, taking into account difficulty. Fractions of points are added or deducted, based on how many balls are turned into outs. The Tigers also are dead last in OAA.
While the Red Sox were busy making one good play after another in the series finale — Cheaters! They used their gloves! — the Tigers did nothing to improve on their abysmal fielding metrics. Missed balls by Colt Keith at third base and Spencer Torkelson at first in the third inning led to the first two runs (earned, technically) off Flaherty, and a Keith error in the fourth led to two more runs (unearned) off Flaherty.
There are teams that are so good, they can overcome one glaring deficiency. The Tigers aren’t one of those teams.
Three stars
(Season total in parentheses)
Riley Greene (9)
Sonny Gray
Brant Hurter (4)
Player of the game
Jack Flaherty
Next Tigers game
Game 39: Tigers at Royals, 7:40 Friday, Detroit SportsNet, 97.1
ICYMI: Yesterday’s Tigers recap
tpaul@detroitnews.com
@tonypaul1984
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Detroit Tigers, Game 38: One thing I loved, one thing I didn’t
Reporting by Tony Paul, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
