00:00On Marathon Monday at Fenway Park, the Detroit Tigers found themselves battling through what
00:05felt like the final grueling miles of a long-distance race. After four games against
00:10the Red Sox, the club left Boston with a series split, dropping the finale by a score of 8-6.
00:16Starting pitcher Jack Flaherty, who had entered the contest on the heels of consecutive strong
00:21performances, appeared out of sync from the very first pitch. Command issues that had previously
00:26been absent resurfaced. Preventing him from establishing any consistent rhythm on the
00:30mound, he managed to navigate a scoreless first inning despite putting two men on base,
00:35an escape aided significantly by a spectacular leaping catch from Riley Green who went up against
00:40the Green Monster to rob extra bases and end the frame that fortune did not carry over into the
00:45second inning. Flaherty immediately put himself in jeopardy by issuing three walks, the most damaging
00:50of which came with the bases loaded combined with a hit and a defensive error behind him,
00:55the free passes allowed Boston to jump out to an early 2-nil lead without the benefit of an earned
01:01run. He had some uncharacteristic big misses. Manager A.J. Hinch said of Flaherty's outing,
01:08they came at some tough times. Back-to-back walks put him under a lot of stress. High pitch count.
01:14We got to a part of the game where I could get him out and get some lefty matchups.
01:18But obviously, Jack just didn't look in sync. Flaherty was equally critical of his own performance,
01:24acknowledging the need for immediate improvement. Nothing was working, Flaherty said. There's a lot
01:30of work to be done. Guys have been throwing the ball well. Starters have been going deep.
01:35You watch this past weekend with what Casey Mize, Tarek Skubel and Framber Valdez were doing and you
01:41want to pick up after them. It's disappointing. Although the official scoring showed only the two
01:47unearned runs charged to him in the second, the accumulation of walks proved unsustainable.
01:51Flaherty was lifted from the game after just three 1-3 innings, marking his shortest start of the
01:57season to date. He finished the afternoon having allowed three hits and six walks while recording
02:01three strikeouts. While Flaherty struggled on the mound, Detroit's offense continued to grind away at
02:06the Boston advantage. The Tigers saw a bright spot in the form of How You Lee, the organization's no-six
02:12prospect, who delivered his first career major league hit in the fourth inning. The third baseman
02:17laced an RBI single into center field to not the game at 2-2. Lee was not finished, adding a
02:23leadoff
02:23double off the green monster in the ninth inning to spark a late rally. Lee was super thrilled to
02:28get his first hit, Hinch said. There's only one first. For him there's been a couple games where
02:33he's been really wanting to do it. I'm glad he did it. I'm glad he did it here. I'm very
02:37happy that
02:37I've finally done it, said Lee, who, in his third major league game, finished the day two for four
02:43with a walk, a run scored, and an RBI. Despite a spirited three-run push in the top of the
02:50ninth
02:50inning that trimmed an 8-3 deficit to 8-6, Detroit's comeback bid ultimately came up short in the final
02:56frame. Regarding Flaherty's ongoing challenges with control, the numbers paint a clear picture.
03:02He has now issued at least three walks in all five of his starts this season. His total of 20
03:07walks
03:08on the campaign ties him with athletics pitcher Luis Severino for the highest mark in Major League
03:13Baseball. Monday's contest also marked the third time this season that the right-hander has failed
03:18to complete five innings of work. The six walks allowed were the most he has surrendered in a start,
03:22since issuing the same number against the Milwaukee Brewers on April 7, 2023. The guys battled as much
03:28as they could today, Flaherty said. It's tough when you don't go deeper in the game, just keep working.
03:34The entire trip to Fenway Park was a test of endurance for the visitors. Detroit endured a
03:3910-inning affair on Friday night, followed by a three-hour rain delay that pushed back Sunday's
03:44first pitch before concluding with Monday's three-hour and ten-minute finale. The series truly lived up to
03:48the moniker of a marathon. Four-game series in general are pretty long, Hinch concluded. We kind of
03:53went through pretty much everything in this series. Fenway's a tough place to play today. They outlasted
04:02us a bit and came up with big at-bats. We also gave them eight free passes today. You do
04:07that in
04:08this park. It doesn't really let you off the hook very often. Long, tough series. With the series now
04:15behind them, the focus shifts to the rotation's consistency moving forward. How concerned should
04:20we be about Jack Flaherty's lingering command issues, or is this simply a rough patch in an
04:25otherwise long season?
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