Washington, D.C. – The Tigers were 47-0 when they took a lead into the eighth inning.
Make that 47-1.
The Washington Nationals, held in complete check for four innings, scored five runs off reliever Tommy Kahnle in a six-run bottom of the eighth inning to beat the Tigers, 9-4, to gain a split of the doubleheader Wednesday at Nationals Park.
“It was a frustrating end to a really well-played game,” manager AJ Hinch said. “We battled really hard to get back into the game against a really good pitcher. Got a few matchups we liked and took advantage of them and then handed the lead over to our guys.
“I will hand it over to them again tomorrow with the game on the line. Tommy has been so good for us but they put up some good at-bats against him tonight.”
The Tigers had just forged ahead 4-3 in the top of the seventh, but it was clear Kahnle wasn’t comfortable. After he gave up a leadoff single to CJ Abrams, Hinch and trainer Chris McDonald came out to check on him.
“He fell off the mound and looked like he was uncomfortable,” Hinch said. “We got out there and he asked what we were doing out there. So I knew he was fine. There were no medical issues at all.”
There were, however, some performance issues. Two hitters later, Nathaniel Lowe laced a three-run triple.
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Josh Bell followed with a double, ending Kahnle’s night. They added another off reliever Brenan Hanifee and sent 10 hitters to the plate. The first seven hitters in the inning reached base.
It was a sudden shift after the Tigers had seemingly taken control of the game, thanks to a shrewd move by Hinch in the seventh inning.
Down 3-2, with a runner at first and one out, Hinch sent Riley Greene up to pinch-hit against right-handed reliever Brad Lord. Hinch knew lefty Jose A. Ferrer was warm in the bullpen and fully expected Nats’ manager Dave Martinez to use him against Greene.
BOX SCORE: Nationals 9, Tigers 4
Which he did and Ferrer struck Greene out. But Hinch also knew Ferrer would have to stay in the game and face a pocket of dangerous right-handed hitters.
Gleyber Torres singled and then Jahmai Jones ripped a two-run double into the gap in left-center to put the Tigers ahead for the first and last time.
“First of all, I will take Greeney against anybody,” Hinch said. “Second, if he does retire him, barring a double-play ball, then Gleyber has a shot and Jahmai has a shot. It turned out we got some really good at-bats to spark us.
“We’re going to be aggressive in those situations…We’re willing to hit for anybody with anybody. Guys know to be ready to play.”
Down 3-0 after three innings and struggling to find traction against Nationals’ ace lefty MacKenzie Gore, the Tigers kept stacking good at-bats. A six-pitch walk by Jones. A 10-pitch battle by Matt Vierling. An eight-pitch tussle by Wenceel Perez. Six-pitch fights by Javier Báez and Justyn-Henry Malloy.
They didn’t change the scoreboard but they pushed Gore’s pitch count up. And in the third, the Tigers nicked him. Spencer Torkelson, who had a home run and single in Game 1, lined an RBI double to the wall in center.
Vierling and Dillon Dingler both worked walks to load the bases, but Gore struck out Báez to end the threat.
Gore was at 98 pitches when he took the mound to start the sixth and with one out, Torkelson walked and Vierling singled, chasing him from the game at 111 pitches.
Against right-handed reliever Brad Lord, Colt Keith, pinch-hitting for Dingler, lashed a two-out double to right-center. Torkelson scored to make it 3-2. Third base coach, seeing the throw from center field go to second base, waved Vierling home.
Second baseman Luis Garcia, Jr., made a quick and strong throw home to nab Vierling.
After winning the opener 11-2, it looked like it might be a long night for the Tigers.
Jack Flaherty was swimming upstream right from the start in this one. Four straight singles in the first inning plated two runs and put him in serious duress.
He walked Paul DeJong with one out to load the bases and he was approaching 40 pitches.
But, with lefty Bailey Horn warming, he dodged the early knockout getting Daylen Lile to hit into a 4-6-3 double-play turned crisply by newly-minted All Stars Torres and Baez.
Flaherty locked in from that point. Impressively so.
“Just, fastball command,” Flaherty said. “If you look at the first inning, I was just spraying it off the plate away. And look at the rest of the game, I was able to command it and using the slider, as well, which is something that’s been coming along. It had some play today.”
Despite a 41-pitch first inning, he got the Tigers through five innings, allowing only one more run on a hit and walk the rest of the way. He ended his outing with seven straight strikeouts, giving him nine for the game.
“Just mentally getting on the attack,” Flaherty said. “It was a lot of pitches in the first inning and they put some good at-bats together. They fouled off a bunch of pitches, it felt like. From there, it was just trying to reset the pitch count the best I could and try to go as deep as I could.”
The Nationals hitters seemed to be sitting on Flaherty’s knuckle-curve and slider early. Three of the four hits in the first came with two strikes, on two curves and a slider.
Flaherty and catcher Dingler made a fast adjustment and Flaherty started freezing hitters with two strike heaters. Jacob Young (fourth inning), James Wood and Garcia in the fifth, all struck out looking at heaters.
Flaherty’s last pitch was a 96-mph four-seamer that locked up Garcia.
He ended up with 16 misses on 47 swings and 10 called strikes on his four-seamer.
“I don’t remember a starter who almost came out of the game in the first inning and be able to put up that kind of dominant performance at the end,” Hinch said. “He really found rhythm and timing and spin and efficiency, which he really needed after that first inning.
“I was proud of his effort. He really locked in in the latter part of the game.”
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