'A lot of work to be done': Flaherty's lack of command proves costly for Tigers

BOSTON -- On Marathon Monday, the Tigers found themselves struggling to the finish line of their four-game series at Fenway Park, leaving with a split after falling, 8-6, in the finale.

Starter Jack Flaherty, who was coming off back-to-back solid outings, looked flat from the jump, failing to locate as command issues crept back into the mix.

He was able to escape the first inning with two men on base, thanks in part to a leaping grab by Riley Greene up against the Green Monster to end the frame.

Unfortunately, the right-hander put himself on the ropes in the very next inning by issuing three walks, including one with the bases loaded, coupled with a hit and an error, leading to an early 2-0 lead for Boston.

“He had some uncharacteristic big misses,” manager A.J. Hinch said about Flaherty. “[They] came at some tough times. Back-to-back walks put him under a lot of stress. High pitch count. We got to a part of the game where I could get him out and get some lefty matchups, but obviously, Jack just didn’t look in sync.”

“Nothing was working,” Flaherty said. “There’s a lot of work to be done. Guys have been throwing the ball well. Starters have been going deep. You watch this [past] weekend with what Casey [Mize], [Tarik Skubal] and Framber [Valdez were] doing and you want to pick up after them. It’s disappointing.”

While he would only allow the two runs in the second (both unearned), the walks kept piling up and led to Flaherty’s departure after 3 1/3 innings, his shortest outing of the season. He would finish his day allowing three hits and six walks while striking out three.

Detroit’s bats chipped away at the Boston lead, as Tigers' No. 6 prospect Hao-Yu Lee tied the game at 2-2 in the fourth with his first big league hit, an RBI single to centerfield. The third baseman added a leadoff double off the Green Monster in the ninth.

“Lee was super thrilled to get his first hit,” Hinch said. “There's only one first. For him, there’s been a couple games where he's been really wanting to do it. I'm glad he did it. I'm glad he did it here.”

“I’m very happy that I’ve finally done it,” said Lee, who -- in his third MLB game -- finished the day 2-for-4 with a walk, run and RBI.

Trailing 8-3 in the ninth, Detroit’s three-run rally came up short in the end.

As for Flaherty, he has now allowed at least three free passes in all five of his starts this season and his 20 walks are tied with the Athletics' Luis Severino for the most issued in MLB this season. It was also the third time this season that Flaherty was unable to work into the fifth inning.

The six walks allowed were the most by the righty since he allowed the same against Milwaukee back on April 7, 2023.

“The guys battled as much as they could today,” said Flaherty. “[It's] tough when you don’t go deeper in the game. Just keep working.”

Detroit had to deal with a 10-inning affair on Friday night, then Sunday’s matchup was pushed back by three hours and Monday’s nine-inning game lasted three hours and 10 minutes, making this series feel like a 26.2-mile effort for the visitors.

“Four-game series in general are pretty long,” Hinch concluded. “We kind of went through pretty much everything [in this series]. Fenway’s a tough place to play. Today, they outlasted us a bit and came up with big at-bats. We also gave them [eight] free passes today. You do that in this park; it doesn’t really let you off the hook very often. Long, tough series.”