The Detroit Tigers (17-13) have been staying consistent as of late, winning their last 3 series in a row. Tuesday marks the beginning of their home series against the struggling St. Louis Cardinals (14-16) and while the Tigers offence has been inconsistent to start the season, their pitching has been a bright spot. 

The first game of a double header on Tuesday was a prime example of elite pitching as SP Jack Flaherty pitched a gem of an outing, striking out the first 7 batters he faced. That sets a Tigers record and just two away from the MLB record of 9, set by Pablo Lopez, when he was a member of the Miami Marlins back in 2021. This was also a career outing for him as he tallies 14 strikeouts, which is the most he’s recorded in a single game. 

Flaherty’s ability to paint the corners and keep betters off balance was a clinic in mixing pitches. His fastball stayed above 95 mph and was absolutely humming as his performance had the matinee crowd buzzing.

Post-Game Presser w/ Pitcher Jack Flaherty and Catcher Carson Kelly.

Unfortunately, the Tigers’ bullpen could not get the job done, which has arguably been even more consistent than their starting pitching. Manager AJ Hinch elected to bring in Shelby Miller for the close in the 9th, where he surrendered 2 runs on 3 hits which ultimately led to his 3rd loss of the season. 

The Cardinals rallied at the top of the 9th off the backs of a Burleson single and a Pages sacrifice fly to give them the 2-1 lead. Cards closer Ryan Helsley pitched a perfect 9th, snagging his 9th save. The lack of run production was an issue yet again, as they couldn’t give Flaherty the run support he needed in this spectacular performance.

Game 2, different story. The Tigers jumped out to 4-0 lead by the end of the third with doubles from Greene and Canha, not to mention a solo shot from Wenceel Perez.

Come the 5th, Tigers starter Matt Manning ran into a heap of trouble surrendering 5 runs off 2 home runs to Donovan and Burleson, giving St. Louis a 5-4 lead.

In the bottom half of the 5th, the Tigers bounced right back with, guess who, Wenceel Perez knocking another home run, this time with Torkelson on base to give them the 7-5 lead. Perez is the first Tiger to hit home runs from both sides of the plate in a single game since Raul Casanova back in 1996.

Riley Greene’s bat woke up today as he hit homers in both games of the double header, including an insurance homer in the bottom of the 7th in the late game. The Tigers would tack on a couple more to cap off a monster offensive outburst with the final score 11-6.

Question is, where were these runs in the first game? Yes, this was an amazing pitcher’s duel between Flaherty and Cardinals SP Kyle Gibson, who threw 7 innings, surrendered 4 hits and 1 earned (Greene’s HR). But this has been the inconsistency behind the plate that have Tigers fans frustrated. Things seem to be taking a turn in the right direction offensively, and we’ll let this one slide as usually the bullpen is rock solid.

The Tigers have the chance to take their 4th series in a row with a win on Wednesday, May 1st. Game starts at 1:10pm EST with two struggling pitchers in Kenta Maeda (0-1, 5.96 ERA) taking the mound for the Tigers against Miles Mikolas (2-3, 5.91).