Detroit — The day after the Tigers made multiple trades to bolster their bullpen, the carryover relievers gave back a 3-0 lead in the final two innings as the Philadelphia Phillies ended the Tigers’ four-game winning streak Friday with a 5-4 victory at Citizens Bank Park.
“Tonight was about 27 outs and we gave them more,” manager AJ Hinch told reporters after the game. “When you are facing a good team and you give them extra outs and extra opportunity, it can come by the walk, it can come by the error, you have to play a complete game to beat a good team.”
A walk contributed to a three-run seventh and an error kept the two-run eighth inning alive.
BOX SCORE: Phillies 5, Tigers 4
After Wenceel Perez led off the top half of the eighth inning with his eighth home run to break a 3-3 tie, the Phillies countered with two in the bottom half off relivers Brenan Hanifee and Brant Hurter.
Hanifee, the right-hander who had been on a run of 10.2 innings without allowing an earned run, was handed a pocket of right-handed hitters. He struck out JT Realmuto, but allowed a single to former Tiger Nick Castellanos and an RBI double by Otto Kemp to tie the game.
Hanifee struck out Harrison Bader and got Edmundo Sosa to tap one back to him. Hanifee, though, bobbled the ball and then threw it errantly to first base.
That kept the inning alive to allow an infield single by Bryson Stott, off Hurter, to drive in the go-ahead run.
Newly-acquired closer Jhoan Duran pitched a clean ninth for his first save with the Phillies.
The Phillies, and a large crowd, had been subdued for six innings by Jack Flaherty. But down 3-0, the Phillies started chipping away against the Tigers’ bullpen.
Flaherty left after allowing a leadoff single to Castellanos. Lefty reliever Tyler Holton was nicked for a bloop single by pinch-hitter Kemp and he walked pinch-hitter Bader.
One run scored on a sacrifice fly by Bryson Stott.
At that point, Hinch brough in Will Vest, his earliest work since April. He gave up RBI singles to Trea Turner and Kyle Schwarber to tie the game.
Vest ended the inning by striking out Bryce Harper on a checked swing that was called a strike by third base umpire Vic Carapazza. Harper, who had been beefing on calls in his previous at-bats. Walked out toward Carapazza and was ejected from the game.
Flaherty, frustrated with himself in Pittsburgh after lasting only three innings, talked afterward about getting out of his own head and get back to competing on the mound.
He ran off a streak of 12 scoreless innings after that.
He made his 175th career start Friday night, his first ever at Citizens Bank Park, and blanked the potent Phillies for six innings before being charged with a run in the seventh.
“Flaherty was really good,” Hinch said. “He was in complete control of the game and really did a nice job of setting us up for the win.
Like he did in his previous start against the Blue Jays, he flummoxed the Phillies with firm, well-located fastballs, most at the bottom of the zone, coupled with a deft mix of sliders and knuckle-curves.
He got seven swings and misses on 12 swings at the slider and five whiffs on 13 swings with his knuckle-curve. He struck out Schwarber twice with nasty sliders.
Flaherty struck out seven and allowed two hits. The first was a two-out double by Edmundo Sosa in the fifth. The second one was a two-strike single Castellanos leading off the seventh.
That ended Flaherty’s night at 95 pitches.
The Tigers built the 3-0 lead on one swing. Gleyber Torres, against lefty Ranger Suarez, smashed a 3-1 cutter (109.7 mph off the bat), sending it 404 feet into the seats in left field.
It was his 12th home run and his third in five games. The Tigers only mustered two hits after that, including Perez’s homer.
@cmccosky
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