The News’ Tony Paul gives his quick takes on the Tigers’ 7-4 loss to the Orioles on Friday:
One thing I loved
Kevin McGonigle was playing less than two hours from his hometown, Aldan, Pa., just outside of Philadelphia.
And, so, naturally, the Tigers rookie sensation had plenty of family and friends in the stands at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on a soggy Friday night. With weather threatening all day to wash out the festivities, McGonigle made darn sure they didn’t make the trip for nothing. He smoked the first pitch of the game for a leadoff homer.
McGonigle teed off on a 94-mph fastball from Orioles opener Keegan Akin (Western Michigan) in a left-on-left battle. It was the third home run of his major-league career, and his first since April 25.
It was the first of five extra-base hits for the Tigers, matching their total from the previous five games combined. But again, it wasn’t enough, as they lost for the 15th time in the last 17 games. They’ve lost seven straight. They’re 20-32. They’re 10.5 games out of first place. A big blow was a three-run home run by Baltimore’s Pete Alonso off Jack Flaherty, after McGonigle’s error (his fifth of the season, fourth at shortstop) extended the third inning.
That’s the Tigers, these days. Even when there’s more to like than normal, there’s also more to dislike, including a botched call during a critical Dillon Dingler at-bat (a ball fouled off his foot was ruled fair, and for some reason isn’t challengeable), and yet another pitching injury, this time reliever Brant Hurter.
One thing I didn’t
For a second consecutive start, Jack Flaherty didn’t walk anybody. And, hey, that’s not nothing.
But in the 1,037th inning of his major-league career, Tigers starter Jack Flaherty committed his very first balk — the latest what-the-hell moment for a team that’s had a whole lot of them during this will-it-ever-end slide into irrelevance. With runners on the corners and nobody out in the fourth inning, Flaherty balked home the tying run. He bounced back to strike out that hitter, Coby Mayo, but the next batter, Jackson Holliday, hit his first homer of the year — a 337-footer, over the 334-foot marker in left field, the latest proof that baseball is a game of inches.
Odd night for Flaherty, who struck out seven but allowed six runs (three earned) on eight hits (two home runs and two doubles). For the seventh time in 11 starts this season, he didn’t get through five innings. And for the ninth time in his 11 starts, the Tigers lost the game. Flaherty hasn’t been credited with a win since Sept. 10.
Three stars
(Season total in parentheses)
Hao-Yu Lee (6)
Kevin McGonigle (16)
Zach McKinstry
Player of the game
Pete Alonso
Tigers on national TV
The Tigers are 4-4 on national TV:
Next Tigers game
Game 53: Tigers at Orioles, 4:05 Saturday, Detroit SportsNet, 97.1
ICYMI: Yesterday’s Tigers recap
tpaul@detroitnews.com
@tonypaul1984
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Detroit Tigers, Game 52: 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
