Detroit Tigers right-hander Jack Flaherty set the franchise record for strikeouts to start a game and his personal record for strikeouts in a single game. He struck out seven batters in a row and finished with 14 strikeouts.
Flaherty racked up the strikeouts against his old team, the St. Louis Cardinals.
"I think everything was just a function of being in sync," Flaherty said. "I was able to throw the curveball whenever I wanted to. I got a little tired there at the end, but I was pretty much able to put the fastball where I wanted to, slider, curveball. It was one of those days where everything was in sync and working. You hope to capitalize on those days."
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But the Tigers lost, 2-1, in Game 1 of Tuesday's doubleheader against the Cardinals at Comerica Park, surrendering two runs in the top of the ninth inning. The Tigers (16-13) must win Game 2 of the doubleheader to secure a winning record in the month of April, after posting a 3-0 record in March.
The offense didn't provide more than one run of support, but Flaherty did his part and stole the show by tossing 6⅔ scoreless innings on two hits and one walk with 14 strikeouts, throwing more than 70% of his 93 pitches for strikes.
"I knew it would be emotional for him to pitch against the Cardinals, his team that he grew up in the big leagues with," Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. "What I didn't know is he was going to bring his best fastball in the first inning and then just take off and dominate. It came together for him today."
"It was nice to come out and be in sync from pitch one," Flaherty said. "I've had a couple where I didn't come out of the gates as hot, so it was nice to come out of the gates hot and continue to keep it going from there."
Flaherty struck out Paul Goldschmidt with a down-and-away slider for the second out in the seventh inning, ending his sixth start of the season. Striking out Goldschmidt, the 2022 National League MVP, marked Flaherty's career high in strikeouts.
He tied the American League record with seven consecutive strikeouts to begin a game, joining Joe Cowley in 1986, Carlos Rodon in 2016, Blake Snell in 2018 and Luis Castillo in 2022.
Flaherty's first seven strikeouts: Brendan Donovan (foul tip, 85.9 mph slider), Willson Contreras (swinging, 84.9 mph slider), Lars Nootbaar (swinging, 97.8 mph fastball), Nolan Arenado (called, 97 mph fastball), Goldschmidt(swinging, 97.1 mph fastball), Alec Burleson (swinging, 86.5 mph slider) and Nolan Gorman (swinging, 79.6 mph curveball).
"You could feel it early on in the game," catcher Carson Kelly said, "actually, before the game in his bullpen, he was on a mission. Sometimes in the past, he's gotten off a little bit slow. The message was go right from pitch one. I think that was something he really took to heart, and he had a career day."
The Cardinals didn't have a non-strikeout until Masyn Winn grounded out for the second out in the third inning. Flaherty threw 11 of 13 pitches for strikes in the first inning and 10 of 14 pitches for strikes in the second inning.
His fastball averaged 96 mph in the first two innings.
The fastball average finished at 94.9 mph, up from 93.6 mph in his first five starts of the season. His 97.8 mph fastball to strike out Nootbar in the first inning was his fastest fastball since 2019, when he pitched for the Cardinals.
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Flaherty pitched for the Cardinals from 2017-23, appearing in 122 games. He signed a one-year, $14 million contract with the Tigers in the offseason in search of a bounce-back season.
"He has the potential to do this any time out," Hinch said.
In his sixth start with his new team, Flaherty recorded the most strikeouts in a single game by a Tiger since future Hall of Fame pitcher Max Scherzer struck out 14 in 2014. He also joined Los Angeles Dodgers' Tyler Glasnow with the most strikeouts in a game by any MLB pitcher in the 2024 season.
Facing the Cardinals, Flaherty generated 24 whiffs on 47 swings — a 51.1% whiff rate — with 10 fastballs, seven sliders, five curveballs, one sinker and one changeup. He also had 19 called strikes, mostly from his fastball and curveball.
Flaherty owns a 4.00 ERA in six starts this season.
"The line is great, but you want to win at the end of the day," Flaherty said. "If that means I had to get a couple more outs and go a little bit deeper, that's what it's about, but our bullpen has been unbelievable."
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Bullpen blows it
After Flaherty's 14th strikeout, Hinch emerged from the dugout and removed his starter from the game. Left-handed reliever Andrew Chafin and right-handed reliever Jason Foley took the Tigers through the eighth inning.
The Tigers, instead of sticking with Foley for a five-out save, brought right-handed reliever Shelby Miller out of the bullpen for the ninth inning.
With one out, Miller gave up back-to-back singles to Arenado, an eight-time All-Star, and Goldschmidt, a seven-time All-Star. After that, Burleson delivered an RBI single on a first-pitch splitter to even the score, 1-1. The next batter, Pedro Pagés, produced a sacrifice fly off Miller's fastball to the warning track in center field, which put the Cardinals ahead, 2-1.
"Shelby had good stuff," Kelly said. "Balls found some holes."
The first out of Miller's outing, a strikeout of Nootbaar, marked the 700th strikeout of his career.
Riley Greene's big swing
The Tigers took a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning when Riley Greene hammered a middle-middle fastball from Cardinals right-hander Kyle Gibson for a solo home run to center field. He hit the ball 421 feet with a 109.8 mph exit velocity.
It was Greene's sixth homer in 29 games this season.
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The Tigers missed an opportunity to extend the margin in the seventh inning with the bases loaded and two outs against Gibson. The bases were loaded by Kerry Carpenter (walk), Spencer Torkelson (single) and Kelly (walk).
Mark Canha replaced Parker Meadows as a pinch-hitter with two outs in the seventh, but Gibson escaped the jam and completed his seven-inning start by striking out Canha swinging.
Canha whiffed at a sweeper inside the strike zone.
Trailing 2-1, the Tigers were sent down in order in the bottom of the ninth inning: Carpenter (strikeout), Torkelson (strikeout) and Colt Keith (flyout).
Contact Evan Petzold at[email protected]or follow him@EvanPetzold.
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