Jack Flaherty 'excellent' in return from injury in Detroit Tigers' 10-1 win over Guardians

Detroit Tigers right-hander Jack Flaherty, who had a two-week layoff between starts while healing from a recurring lower back injury, received a handshake and a hung from manager A.J. Hinch after completing the sixth inning.

"He was exceptional," Hinch said.

Flaherty allowed just one run in his first start since June 27.

He threw 83 pitches.

Led by Flaherty, the Tigers took down the Cleveland Guardians on Friday for a 10-1 win at Comerica Park to wrap up the four-game series between American League Central foes.

"Coming into the game, everybody knew we had a chance to win a series because Jack is on the mound," Hinch said, "and we've been playing pretty clean baseball. It's huge to get somebody back who's performed at an All-Star level, even though he hasn't gotten selected, hopefully, yet, but he's been a rock in our rotation."

The Tigers (45-49) won three of four games against the Guardians, though the Tigers still trail the first-place Guardians by 13 games in the AL Central. After the All-Star break, the Tigers play six of 12 games against the Guardians to finish the month of July.

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Flaherty, whom the Tigers signed to a one-year, $14 million contract, needs to stay healthy and avoid the injured list to maintain his value as one of the most coveted pitchers at the upcoming July 30 trade deadline.

The 28-year-old has a 3.13 ERA in 16 starts.

"We're going to have some time here with the All-Star break," Flaherty said. "I'm not really concerned. I don't have to bounce back in five days and do it again, so I'll have some time. It's nice to be able to feel good walking away and being in a good spot, feeling much better than I have the last handful of times."

After a 14-day absence, Flaherty worked around two hits and two walks — registering four strikeouts — in his six-inning performance. The Guardians scored their only run in the third inning, when Bo Naylor smacked Flaherty's hanging slider for a solo home run to right field.

Before that, Flaherty retired the first seven batters he faced.

In the fourth inning, Flaherty avoided trouble after a pair of walks to Daniel Schneemann on six pitches and Andrés Giménez on four pitches. After a mound visit from pitching coach Chris Fetter, Flaherty threw three fastballs in a row to Will Brennan, and on the third fastball, Brennan grounded out to escape the mini-jam.

"As the game went on, it got a little bit worse," Flaherty said. "I lost the fastball away there at the end, especially to a couple of those hitters, I couldn't quite get it there and started to get a little tired, but I was able to execute with the slider at the end."

Flaherty retired all three batters in the fifth inning, including a swinging strikeout of Naylor. In that matchup, Flaherty executed his slider at the bottom of the strike zone to get revenge on the opponent who hit his slider for a homer in the third inning.

He also sent down all three batters in the sixth inning, retiring seven in a row to end his outing. He struck out Schneemann swinging with a nasty back-foot slider for his final out, and he pumped his right fist in celebration.

Flaherty generated 11 whiffs on 41 swings — a 26.8% whiff rate — with four fastballs, five sliders, one curveball and one changeup. His fastball averaged 93.5 mph.

"It was huge," Flaherty said, when asked about his slider. "Everything was huge. Fastball was pretty good. The slider was huge there, especially at the end when I was able to land that pitch as I got a little tired and the fastball started to go a little bit."

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Scoring 10 runs

The Tigers took a 1-0 lead with Riley Greene's two-out single in the first inning.

They never looked back.

The Tigers tacked on two more runs, taking a 3-0 lead, in the second inning with singles from Gio Urshela and Javier Báez with one out, walks from Wenceel Pérez and Colt Keith with two outs and a single from Matt Vierling with two outs. The five-pitch walk from Keith and the first-pitch single from Vierling occurred with the bases loaded, driving in the two runs.

But the Tigers weren't done scoring.

Carson Kelly blasted a second-pitch, up-and-in fastball from right-hander Spencer Howard for a solo home run to right field, making it 4-1. He has seven homers in 53 games this season, tying the seven homers he had across 104 games in 2022.

"Same old Jack," said Kelly, who has worked as the catcher for 14 of Flaherty's 16 starts. "He's an ultimate competitor. He goes out there and prepares every single day. He visualizes a lot, too. He sees himself on the mound. I think that's a big part. Even though you're not on the mound every five days, you can get those mental reps, which has really helped him."

Howard allowed four runs on seven hits and three walks with four strikeouts in three innings. His replacement, right-handed reliever Pedro Avila, wasn't any better, giving up five runs (four earned runs) in his 2⅓ innings.

Greene increased the Tigers' lead to 6-1 with an RBI single in the fourth inning, and in the sixth inning, the Tigers exploded for four runs — and a 10-1 margin — with Zach McKinstry's bases-loaded walk and Gio Urshela's bases-clearing double.

Greene finished 3-for-4 with three RBIs and one strikeout, hitting three singles. Keith couldn't extend his hitting streak beyond eight games, but he worked two walks — and reached safely on a fielding error — in his five trips to the plate.

"It's fun to watch," Flaherty said. "What Greeney has been able to do is special. It's been really fun to watch. And Carson, too, and (Matt) Vierling, you go up and down. Colt, too, has really turned it on. Props to him. It's tough to come in, and you want to do great from the jump, and he struggled a little bit, but he's really turned it on, and it's been fun to watch."

Contact Evan Petzold at [email protected] or follow him @EvanPetzold.

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Next up: Dodgers

Matchup: Tigers (44-49) vs. Los Angeles (55-38 entering Thursday), series opener.

First pitch: 6:40 p.m. Friday; Comerica Park, Detroit.

TV/radio: Bally Sports Detroit; WXYT-FM (97.1).

Probable pitchers: Tigers — LHP Tarik Skubal (10-3, 2.37 ERA); Dodgers — LHP James Paxton (7-2, 4.24).

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Jack Flaherty sharp in return as Detroit Tigers beat Guardians, 10-1