Detroit Tigers rookie Wenceel Pérez hits clutch single in 5-4 win over Minnesota Twins

MINNEAPOLIS — Jack Flaherty knew right away.

He looked frustrated when Trevor Larnach put a charge into his middle-down fastball with two strikes and two outs in the first inning, resulting in a two-run home run. After that, though, Flaherty dominated the Minnesota Twins on Friday in the first of three games at Target Field.

The Detroit Tigers beat the Twins, 5-4, behind a clutch hit from a rookie playing in the seventh game of his MLB career. Wenceel Pérez drove in the game-winning run with a hard-hit single back up the middle off left-handed reliever Caleb Thielbar in the top of the ninth inning.

After Pérez's hit, the Tigers (11-9) slammed the door on the Twins with right-handed reliever Jason Foley, recording his sixth save in as many opportunities. He worked around a two-out walk.

Flaherty, a right-hander who signed a one-year, $14 million contract in search of a bounce-back season, allowed four runs (two earned runs) on four hits and one walk with 10 strikeouts across six innings, throwing 97 pitches. He retired eight batters in a row, striking out seven of them, between Larnach's homer in the first inning and Larnach's single in the fourth inning.

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It was the Flaherty show until an error in the sixth inning.

The error changed the momentum of the game.

Flaherty walked the leadoff man before the next batter hit a fly ball to right-center field. It should've been an easy out. Pérez, a below-average defender in right field, cut in front of center fielder Parker Meadows, an above-average defender, and tried to catch the ball, but the ball bounced off his glove.

Pérez was charged with a fielding error.

The Twins had two runners in scoring position.

Flaherty struck out the next two batters — his ninth and 10th strikeouts — before Byron Buxton hit a two-strike slider for a two-run double to left field. Left fielder Kerry Carpenter failed to make the catch because he mistimed the fly ball, which hit the wall, bounced on the warning track and kicked back into the grass.

The Twins scored two runs on the misplayed double to tie the game, 4-4, in the sixth inning.

But Pérez got the last laugh in the top of the ninth inning, when he drove a 92.5 mph fastball from Thielbar into center field for a two-out single. Parker Meadows set the stage for Pérez with a two-out single, and he advanced to second base on a throwing error on a pickoff attempt.

Meadows scored easily on Pérez's single for a 5-4 lead.

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Kerry Carpenter

While Flaherty dominated on the mound, the Tigers were led by Carpenter at the plate against Twins right-hander Joe Ryan. He finished 4-for-4 with two RBIs, including three hits off Ryan.

Carpenter jumpstarted the Tigers with a two-out double in the first inning, leading to a 1-0 advantage.

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He scored from second base when Spencer Torkelson hit a long grounder to second baseman Edouard Julien, who fumbled the ball after making a sliding stop. Julien wasn't going to get Torkelson at first base, so he threw home to get Carpenter, but catcher Christian Vázquez failed to get his glove on the ball.

The Tigers scored two runs in the third inning on a pair of two-out singles from Pérez and Carpenter. Meadows stole second base to set up Pérez's RBI single; Pérez stole second base to set up Carpenter's RBI single.

It was the first RBI of Pérez's MLB career.

The two steals and two hits put the Tigers ahead, 3-2, in the third. The Tigers increased their lead to 4-2 in the sixth inning when Pérez tripled and Carpenter drove him in with another single.

Jack Flaherty

Flaherty deserved better.

The defense, specifically the mistakes from Pérez and Carpenter in the sixth inning, put a damper on his best start of the season. He generated 19 whiffs on 44 swings with four fastballs, six sliders and nine curveballs.

His fastball averaged 93.1 mph.

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Flaherty struck out five batters in a row after Larnach's home run in the first inning: Buxton (curveball), Carlos Santana (slider), Willi Castro (curveball), Vázquez (curveball) and Kyle Famer (fastball).

After Julien's ensuing lineout, Flaherty struck out Ryan Jeffers with a slider at the bottom of the strike zone to complete the third inning. He then struck out Alex Kirilloff (slider) and Buxton (fastball) in the fourth inning. He also struck out Kirilloff (curveball) and Larnach (slider) in the messy sixth inning.

Those were all 10 strikeouts.

It was Flaherty's first double-digit strikeout game since May 15, 2023.

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' Wenceel Pérez hits clutch single in 5-4 win over Twins