Detroit Tigers rally, but miss out on sweep of Tampa Bay Rays with 7-5 loss

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Right-hander Jack Flaherty is trying to put together a bounce-back season with the Detroit Tigers, and since the start of the regular season, the slider has been a pitch reborn for him.

It has been one of the best sliders in baseball.

But the Tampa Bay Rays executed their game plan against Flaherty's slider, recording four hits off it en route to four runs across the first and second innings. Flaherty settled into his fifth start after adjusting his pitch mix, which allowed the Tigers to storm back and take the lead, but the Rays delivered a comeback of their own in the later innings.

The Tigers lost to the Rays, 7-5, in Wednesday's finale of a three-game series at Tropicana Field. Right-handed reliever Will Vest, who replaced Flaherty, surrendered three runs in the sixth inning.

The Tigers (14-11) finished their six-game roadtrip with a 4-2 record.

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The two teams combined for five runs in the sixth inning.

The Tigers jumped out to a 5-4 lead with RBI singles from Buddy Kennedy and Javier Báez, both with two outs against right-handed reliever Chris Devenski. The two-run inning was set up by Matt Vierling's one-out triple to the right-field corner.

The Rays regained the lead, 7-5, with an RBI single from Ben Rortvedt and a two-run home run from Curtis Mead, both off Vest with two outs. Isaac Paredes, who played for the Tigers in 2020-21, sparked the comeback with a leadoff double.

Mead only hit the ball 327 feet to left, but he got just enough of Vest's slider for a two-run homer to the shortest part of the park. It was the slowest exit velocity to produce an over-the-wall home run this season, at 87.3 mph.

After Báez's double, the next nine batters were retired by Rays relievers before Jake Rogers walked with two outs in the ninth inning, but left-handed reliever Garrett Cleavinger struck out Riley Greene to end the game.

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Jack not so nimble

In his fifth start, Flaherty allowed four runs on seven hits — without a walk — in five innings, striking out six batters. He kept the Rays from scoring in the third, fourth and fifth innings to keep the Tigers within striking distance.

He threw 97 pitches.

The Rays collected their first four hits off Flaherty's slider: Randy Arozarena's solo home run in the first inning, followed by Amed Rosario's single, Rortvedt's double and José Caballero's single in the second.

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The double from Rortvedt and the single from Caballero scored runs for a 3-1 lead. Yandy Díaz increased the Rays' lead to 4-1 with an RBI single off Flaherty's fastball with two strikes and two outs in the second.

After that, Flaherty began to throw more curveballs.

Flaherty struck out Arozarena on three pitches in the third inning: a 74.1 mph curveball for a called strike, an uncharacteristically slow 88.9 mph four-seam fastball fouled off and, finally, a 77.3 mph curveball for a swinging strike.

He retired the final six batters he faced.

Flaherty generated 15 whiffs (on 50 swings) with six fastballs, five sliders and four curveballs. His fastball — responsible for six of 15 whiffs and nine of 15 called strikes — averaged 93.6 mph.

A reunion with Tyler Alexander

The Tigers took a 1-0 lead in the first inning.

Greene delivered a leadoff single and scored on Spencer Torkelson's hard-hit groundout. Greene trotted to second base on Wenceel Pérez's walk, then moved up to third on a balk from right-hander Shawn Armstrong, who served as an opener for the Rays.

The Tigers tacked on two runs in the fifth inning against left-hander Tyler Alexander, an old friend.

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Alexander, who pitched for the Tigers from 2019-23, walked Báez on four pitches with one out in the fifth. Rogers followed up with a single, pulling Alexander's middle-in cutter. The runners advanced — both into scoring position — when Greene flew out to the warning track in right-center field.

Báez and Rogers scored on Mark Canha's two-run single on a ground ball into left field, cutting the Tigers' deficit to 4-3.

Alexander, whom the Tigers designated for assignment in early November, allowed two runs on three hits and one walk with two strikeouts in four innings. The Rays claimed Alexander off waivers after he was cut by the Tigers.

He has a 4.74 ERA in 24⅔ innings this season.

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers can't hold on for sweep of Tampa Bay Rays with 7-5 loss