Tigers 'left a little out there' on key homestand as Flaherty boosts rotation

DETROIT -- Arguably nobody in baseball does a better job of focusing on the singular game than A.J. Hinch, who turned “win the day’s game” into a rallying cry in their 2024 run to an American League Wild Card spot.

It makes the Tigers manager’s comments after Sunday afternoon’s 7-5 extra-inning loss to the Astros at Comerica Park all the more glaring. Asked about the overall feeling after the game, he panned out to look at the bigger picture.

“The overall feeling is disappointment, because we had some winnable games on this homestand,” Hinch said, “but specifically the one today. It’s within your grasp, but you’ve got to do enough to win it.”

The Tigers came home a week and a half ago looking forward to their longest homestand of the season at a time they badly needed it. They won four in a row, including a series sweep of the White Sox last weekend and a big win over the AL East-leading Yankees on Monday, and seemed to have the springboard they needed to get back into the AL playoff chase.

Detroit (35-49) lost five of its next six, all by two runs or fewer. The Tigers had a lead in three of them, and held a late-inning lead in the last two. They left town Sunday with a split of the homestand at 5-5, but in virtually the same spot they faced heading in.

“Winnable games is exactly what you leave this homestand with,” Hinch said. “At this level, their guys are going to come up with big hits or big swings or big pitches or big plays. This is the big leagues, so you don’t consider yourself like every single time it’s going to go your way; it’s competition. But we do feel like we left a little bit out there, at least I do, in terms of opportunity to start to trend better in the right direction.

“We played 10 games at home. Fans were great. Weather was great. We saw a lot of really good baseball, and I saw a lot of close losses. I love the things that happened in the five wins, and we can pick apart something in the five losses, and we feel like we left a little out there.”

The Tigers’ nine-game deficit in the AL Central is a half-game better than where they stood coming into the homestand. They made up no ground in the Wild Card race, still 6 1/2 games back and now with an additional team a 1/2-game ahead of them in the Angels (36-49).

Here are three takeaways from the homestand:

1. Rotation is (finally) loaded

For the first time maybe all season, it feels like Detroit’s rotation is functioning from top to bottom -- not just in terms of health but in effectiveness. Jack Flaherty's return from the injured list Sunday, with nine strikeouts over five scoreless innings, showed some of his best stuff of the year. Keider Montero tossed a pair of seven-inning quality starts in victories, including seven scoreless on Friday. Troy Melton tossed six innings of one-run ball twice, allowing three hits over 12 innings combined. Framber Valdez looked stellar against the Yankees before struggling against the Astros.

The other two starters could’ve fared better but surely will soon. Tarik Skubal fanned 17 batters over 11 2/3 innings combined, but he gave up five runs, three off of changeups. Casey Mize showed some rust in his return from the injured list, but also showed some badly-needed swing-and-miss stuff.

Flaherty’s return gives the Tigers six starters. That likely won’t last past Friday’s scheduled off-day. The surplus could give Hinch some help for the next point ...

2. Bullpen is leaking

Detroit’s relief corps entered Sunday with a 2.59 ERA for June, second in the AL to the Yankees, but showed leaks over the weekend. Will Vest took Saturday’s loss by giving up a three-run eighth inning after Drew Anderson surrendered a two-out rally for a run in the seventh. Sunday saw Tyler Holton yield Raynel Delgado’s first MLB homer -- Holton’s 10th homer allowed this season – for two runs in the seventh, Kyle Finnegan gave up a game-tying homer to ex-Tiger Isaac Paredes, and Kenley Jansen yielded a four-run 10th, punctuated by Christian Walker’s three-run homer, Jansen’s fifth home run allowed in 21 innings this season.

3. Defense is inconsistent

The Tigers provided plenty of highlight plays in the field, including back-to-back games with a diving or sliding grab in left field from Riley Greene and some slick fielding from second baseman Hao-Yu Lee. But Delgado’s homer followed Jake Meyers’ ground ball that should’ve been converted to end the inning. Colt Keith received the error for a missed catch at first base, but Kevin McGonigle’s underthrow from third did him no favors.

Vest’s three-run inning on Saturday, included a James Outman error in center that allowed runners to advance ahead of Paredes’ go-ahead double, resulting in an unearned insurance run.