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The AL Central has been one of the most competitive divisions in the entirety of Major League Baseball. Last Thursday, the Tigers traveled to Boston for a 4-game series against the Red Sox. They were 27-28 and 9.5 games back in the division. Starting in game one of the series, Jack Flaherty would provide one of his best starts to date.
Jack Flaherty had rather unfavorable starts to start the season. He allowed 16 runs in a 29.1 inning span in his first 5 games, which he went 3-2 in. However, an incredible outing against St. Louis has turned him into one of Detroit’s most valuable assets. At home, he threw 6.2 innings, allowing no runs on 2 hits with a career-high 14 strikeouts. The Tigers would go on to lose the game 2-1.
Since his electric performance against his former team, Flaherty has been consistently excellent on the bump. Since his loss to Tampa Bay on April 24th, he has gone at least 6 innings and allowed no more than 3 runs per start (excluding Tuesday’s early-exit due to injury).
Flaherty’s past two starts have been lights out. He took the mound in game one of Detroit’s trip to Boston, flirting with a no-hitter. Flaherty went 6.2 innings, striking out 9 without any hits. His hopes of a no-no were only broken up by a single with 2 outs in the 7th by Rob Refsnyder.
On Tuesday, Flaherty pitched against Texas in the second game of a three-game away stint against the Rangers. Once again, it was dominance for the 28-year old. Flaherty threw 5 innings against the defending-champs, only allowing 2 hits to Nathaniel Lowe and Marcus Semien. However, Flaherty exited prior to the 6th due to back tightness.
Thankfully, Flaherty seems to have avoided another major injury. The 7-year veteran has faced 8 injuries throughout his career, multiple of which have sidelined him for extended periods of time. The back issues seemly do not fall into the same category. Flaherty remains optimistic to return for Detroit’s series against Washington, which starts on the 11th. He is aided by 2 rest days between now and then.
Flaherty’s consistency has helped the Tigers stay competitive in the AL Central. His win against Texas pushed Detroit over the 0.500% WP threshold for the first time since May 13th. Flaherty retains a great ERA of 3.22, while Tarik Skubal and Reese Olson have also been amazing in the Tigers’ excellent rotation.
This article is written independently for adamcookejournalism.com.
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