Detroit — One way for the Tigers to stay afloat amid all these injuries they have would be to play sound defense.
That would certainly help the pitching, and make the offense’s task a bit easier.
But the Tigers’ defense hardly helped the cause Wednesday, a key reason the Boston Red Sox completed the three-game series sweep with a 4-0 victory.
“We preach all the time we have to catch the ball and give ourselves a chance to win,” said acting manager George Lombard, who filled in for AJ Hinch, who was suspended one game earlier in the day. “We have to have some defense out there.”
Tigers’ starting pitcher Jack Flaherty (0-3) was tagged with the loss, but didn’t get help behind him. Flaherty struck out 10 — the first five hitters he faced, and five of the last six — and four runs, only two of which were earned.
It was a dominating effort from Flaherty, who deserved a better fate.
“I was excited for Flare (Flaherty),” Lombard said. “It’s been a rough go for him. I was really happy. It’s exciting to see him go out there and throw the ball and grind through some innings and give ourselves a chance to win the game.”
The work between starts paid off for Flaherty, who got ahead of hitters and did a good job of commanding the strike zone.
“There’s a lot to build off, in the way I was able to command and get ahead of guys,” Flaherty said.
But the defense miscues were costly.
The gut-punch was third baseman Colt Keith’s error with two out and two on in the fourth inning. Carlos Narvaez’s grounder got through Keith, and scored Masataka Yoshida (singled) and Ceddanne Rafaela (walked), giving the Red Sox (16-21) a 4-0 lead.
Keith’s deflecting Marcelo Mayer’s grounder in the third, led to an infield single to lead off the inning. After Narvaez was hit by a pitch, Spencer Torkelson dropped a foul pop-up giving Caleb Durbin new life. Durbin followed with a double, scoring Mayer. Narvaez would later score on a Wilson Contreras sacrifice fly.
BOX SCORE: Red Sox 4, Tigers 0
“We have to make plays,” Lombard said. “Every little catch builds to a bigger catch, then it becomes contagious. We’re going to make mistakes (but) we have to find ways to go back out there and be better.”
Both teams had four hits in the game. Boston’s Sonny Gray (3-1) allowed three hits, no runs, walked two and struck out two over five innings to earn the victory.
The Tigers’ best chance offensively was loading the bases in the second inning, but Jace Jung was robbed of a hit by a sliding catch by Wilyer Abreu.
“One of the things that stood out was their outfield defense,” Lombard said. “The pitching was good, but their outfield defense, they were running balls down.”
The Tigers (18-20) were without Hinch, who received a one-game suspension after Framber Valdez intentionally threw at Boston’s Trevor Story in Tuesday’s game, resulting Wednesday in Valdez earning a five-game suspension. It’s a common occurrence for managers to receive a one-game suspension, and Hinch served it Wednesday.
Lombard learned earlier in the afternoon he was going to manage manage Wednesday against Boston.
“I did whatever I could to prepare and help the guys win a ballgame,” Lombard said.
Valdez’s suspension was reduced from six to five games after he dropped an appeal. Valdez will not make his next scheduled start Sunday in Kansas City.
The Tigers have lost three consecutive games, six of 10 games, and trail Cleveland (19-19) by a game in the standings. An avalanche of injuries, mainly to the pitching staff, has made the first quarter of the season a monumental challenge.
“Focus on the next day,” outfielder Riley Greene said. “The injuries suck but it is what it is. There’s still baseball to play and we have to go out and win baseball games. We want our guys. It sucks not having them. But the season isn’t going to end, so we have to go out there and find ways to win.”
tkulfan@detroitnews.com
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This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Tigers swept by Red Sox; Flaherty strikes out 10 in shutout loss
Reporting by Ted Kulfan, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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