Detroit Tigers starter Jack Flaherty usually runs into trouble around the third inning of his starts this season.
This time, the trouble came in the fifth.
With the visitors taking a lead in the fifth and extending it in the late innings, the Los Angeles Angels beat the Detroit Tigers (22-35) 7-1 on Thursday, May 28, at Comerica Park in Detroit. Flaherty finished one out away from his second quality start of the season, but a three-run fifth inning was all the Angels needed to take the win and the series.
Advertisement
The Tigers’ bats, meanwhile, couldn’t support their starter, failing to record a hit for five straight innings at one point as Angels starter Grayson Rodriguez allowed just one run over five innings.
1 / 19
Detroit Tigers take on Los Angeles Angels at Comerica Park
Detroit Tigers first baseman Spencer Torkelson (20) celebrates a solo home run against Los Angeles Angels during the second inning at Comerica Park in Detroit on Wednesday, May 27, 2026.
(Junfu Han, Detroit Free Press)
1 / 19
Detroit Tigers take on Los Angeles Angels at Comerica Park
Detroit Tigers first baseman Spencer Torkelson (20) celebrates a solo home run against Los Angeles Angels during the second inning at Comerica Park in Detroit on Wednesday, May 27, 2026.
(Junfu Han, Detroit Free Press)
2 / 19
Detroit Tigers take on Los Angeles Angels at Comerica Park
Detroit Tigers first baseman Spencer Torkelson (20) runs past second base after batting a solo home run against Los Angeles Angels during the second inning at Comerica Park in Detroit on Wednesday, May 27, 2026.
(Junfu Han, Detroit Free Press)
3 / 19
Detroit Tigers take on Los Angeles Angels at Comerica Park
Detroit Tigers pitcher Casey Mize (12) throws against Los Angeles Angels during the first inning at Comerica Park in Detroit on Wednesday, May 27, 2026.
(Junfu Han, Detroit Free Press)
4 / 19
Detroit Tigers take on Los Angeles Angels at Comerica Park
Detroit Tigers pitcher Casey Mize (12) throws against Los Angeles Angels during the second inning at Comerica Park in Detroit on Wednesday, May 27, 2026.
(Junfu Han, Detroit Free Press)
5 / 19
Detroit Tigers take on Los Angeles Angels at Comerica Park
Los Angeles Angels left fielder Wade Meckler (53) steals second base against Detroit Tigers second baseman Hao-Yu Lee (50) during the second inning at Comerica Park in Detroit on Wednesday, May 27, 2026.
(Junfu Han, Detroit Free Press)
6 / 19
Detroit Tigers take on Los Angeles Angels at Comerica Park
Detroit Tigers right fielder Zach McKinstry (39) tries to catch a foul out against Los Angeles Angels during the second inning at Comerica Park in Detroit on Wednesday, May 27, 2026.
(Junfu Han, Detroit Free Press)
7 / 19
Detroit Tigers take on Los Angeles Angels at Comerica Park
Detroit Tigers right fielder Zach McKinstry (39) runs off the field after top of second inning against Los Angeles Angels at Comerica Park in Detroit on Wednesday, May 27, 2026.
(Junfu Han, Detroit Free Press)
8 / 19
Detroit Tigers take on Los Angeles Angels at Comerica Park
Detroit Tigers first baseman Spencer Torkelson (20) celebrates a solo home run against Los Angeles Angels during the second inning at Comerica Park in Detroit on Wednesday, May 27, 2026.
(Junfu Han, Detroit Free Press)
9 / 19
Detroit Tigers take on Los Angeles Angels at Comerica Park
Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander watches a replay from the dugout during the second inning against Los Angeles Angels at Comerica Park in Detroit on Wednesday, May 27, 2026.
(Junfu Han, Detroit Free Press)
10 / 19
Detroit Tigers take on Los Angeles Angels at Comerica Park
Detroit Tigers second baseman Hao-Yu Lee (50) bats against Los Angeles Angels during the second inning at Comerica Park in Detroit on Wednesday, May 27, 2026.
(Junfu Han, Detroit Free Press)
11 / 19
Detroit Tigers take on Los Angeles Angels at Comerica Park
Los Angeles Angels center fielder Mike Trout (27) watches a play as Detroit Tigers pitcher Casey Mize (12) looks to pitch during the first inning at Comerica Park in Detroit on Wednesday, May 27, 2026.
(Junfu Han, Detroit Free Press)
12 / 19
Detroit Tigers take on Los Angeles Angels at Comerica Park
Detroit Tigers pitcher Casey Mize (12) celebrates a double play against Los Angeles Angels during the first inning at Comerica Park in Detroit on Wednesday, May 27, 2026.
(Junfu Han, Detroit Free Press)
13 / 19
Detroit Tigers take on Los Angeles Angels at Comerica Park
Los Angeles Angels pitcher José Soriano (59) throws against Detroit Tigers during the first inning at Comerica Park in Detroit on Wednesday, May 27, 2026.
(Junfu Han, Detroit Free Press)
14 / 19
Detroit Tigers take on Los Angeles Angels at Comerica Park
Detroit Tigers shortstop Kevin McGonigle (7) bats a single against Los Angeles Angels during the first inning at Comerica Park in Detroit on Wednesday, May 27, 2026.
(Junfu Han, Detroit Free Press)
15 / 19
Detroit Tigers take on Los Angeles Angels at Comerica Park
Detroit Tigers third baseman Colt Keith (33) runs towards third base after shortstop Kevin McGonigle (7) bats a single against Los Angeles Angels during the first inning at Comerica Park in Detroit on Wednesday, May 27, 2026.
(Junfu Han, Detroit Free Press)
16 / 19
Detroit Tigers take on Los Angeles Angels at Comerica Park
Detroit Tigers third baseman Colt Keith (33) celebrates scoring a runs in the dugout against Los Angeles Angels during the first inning at Comerica Park in Detroit on Wednesday, May 27, 2026.
(Junfu Han, Detroit Free Press)
17 / 19
Detroit Tigers take on Los Angeles Angels at Comerica Park
Detroit Tigers left fielder Riley Greene (31) reacts to after struck out against Los Angeles Angels during the first inning at Comerica Park in Detroit on Wednesday, May 27, 2026.
(Junfu Han, Detroit Free Press)
18 / 19
Detroit Tigers take on Los Angeles Angels at Comerica Park
Detroit Tigers catcher Jake Rogers (34) watches a play from the dugout against Los Angeles Angels during the first inning at Comerica Park in Detroit on Wednesday, May 27, 2026.
(Junfu Han, Detroit Free Press)
19 / 19
Detroit Tigers take on Los Angeles Angels at Comerica Park
Detroit Tigers pitcher Casey Mize (12) gets ready to throw against Los Angeles Angels during the second inning at Comerica Park in Detroit on Wednesday, May 27, 2026.
(Junfu Han, Detroit Free Press)
The majority of Detroit’s damage at the plate came from right fielder Wenceel Pérez, who recorded a solo home run in the second inning and a leadoff double in the eighth inning for his first multi-hit game since May 8. But despite Pérez’s efforts at the plate (and in right field with a pair of impressive catches on hard line drives), Detroit’s offense couldn’t put up the runs needed to take the series.
Reliever Brent Hanifee pitched a scoreless seventh inning, but righty Ricky Vanasco was once again ineffective, allowing a walk to Mike Trout, a double to Vaughn Grissom and a single to designated hitter Jorge Soler, netting another two runs for the Angels in the eighth. Vanasco allowed another two runs on a two-out RBI double from Trout in the ninth inning, creating a six-run deficit the Tigers offense couldn’t bridge.
On the mound
Jack Flaherty of the Detroit Tigers pitches against the Los Angeles Angels during the second inning at Comerica Park on Thursday, May 28, 2026.
Flaherty looked like a top tier starter on Thursday – for the first four innings, anyway.
Advertisement
Flaherty (0-7, 5.81 ERA) allowed a leadoff double to Angels right fielder Jo Adell in the top of the fifth, and then after striking out second baseman Adam Frazier, Flaherty allowed Adell to advance to third base on a wild pitch. He then gave up back-to-back singles to catcher Sebastián Rivero and third baseman Donovan Walton, the first one scoring Adell from third to tie the game at 1-1, and then allowed a one-out double to shortstop Zach Neto to give the Angels the lead.
The Angels got one more across with a sacrifice fly from Grissom to score Walton from third. The four hits Flaherty gave up in the fifth were twice as many as he gave up in the first four innings combined, as the Angels parlayed their rally into a 3-1 lead after five.
Before the fifth inning, however, Flaherty looked like he was having his best start of the season, at one point recording five straight strikeouts that stretched from the first inning to the third.
Flaherty finished just short of a season high in innings pitched (six) and just short of his season high in strikeouts (10). His final line: 5⅔ innings pitched, six hits, three runs (all earned), one walk and nine strikeouts on 91 total pitches. He lowered his ERA from 5.94 to 5.81 on the season but was tabbed for the loss.
Advertisement
At the plate
The Tigers got on the board in the second inning with a two-out, solo home run from Pérez, giving Detroit a 1-0 lead. The home run was Pérez’s fourth of the season and second in three games, as Pérez was without a home run since April 28 before Tuesday.
After an above-average season at the plate in 2025, Pérez has been one of Detroit’s worst hitters in 2026. Among players with at least 100 plate appearances so far this season, only Zach McKinstry entered Thursday’s game with a lower OPS+ (30) than Pérez (37), with both players placing far below league average.
The switch-hitting Pérez has especially struggled from the left side of the plate this season, entering the game with a .134 average against right-handed pitching. The home run against Rodriguez could be a positive sign for the struggling Pérez, whose struggles have come alongside Detroit’s recent fall to the bottom of the AL Central standings.
Detroit Tigers’ Wenceel Perez rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run against the Los Angeles Angels during the second inning at Comerica Park on Thursday, May 28, 2026.
The Tigers lineup then failed to record a hit over the next five innings following Pérez’s home run, with the lone baserunners during the stretch coming on walks from catcher Jake Rogers in the fifth inning and McKinstry in the seventh. That included a couple of hard lineouts from third baseman Colt Keith to Trout in the third and fifth innings and two hard hits from designated hitter Dillon Dingler that landed for outs in the outfield.
Advertisement
With the Tigers down 5-1 in the eighth, a leadoff double from Pérez and a one-out single from Keith gave the Tigers a chance for a rally, with a two-out walk from Dingler loading the bases for left fielder Riley Greene. But Greene struck out swinging, wasting the Tigers’ best run-scoring opportunity of the game.
Up next
The Tigers head west to play the Chicago White Sox for a three-game series at Rate Field in Chicago. The White Sox are perhaps the most surprising team in the American League, currently in second place in the AL Central and featuring rookie slugger Munetaka Murakami, who is tied for second in MLB with 20 home runs.
Tigers righty Troy Melton (1-0, 1.59 ERA) will get his second start of the season, facing White Sox righty Erick Fedde (0-5, 5.47 ERA).
Advertisement
Need to catch up on the news during your lunch break? Sign up for our Sports Briefing newsletter to get daily summaries of Detroit sports!
You can reach Christian at cromo@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Tigers lose series to Angels despite Jack Flaherty’s strong start