Tigers shut out by Padres in 3-0 loss as Jack Flaherty struggles

SAN DIEGO – The Detroit Tigers can’t win them all.

As expected, the Tigers won with left-handers Tarik Skubal and Framber Valdez leading the way in the first two games of the series against the San Diego Padres, but right-hander Jack Flaherty failed to maintain the momentum created by two of the best pitchers in baseball.

The Tigers lost, 3-0, to the Padres on Saturday, March 28, in the finale at Petco Park.

As Flaherty struggled, the offense didn’t do him any favors – no runs on just two hits – and neither did the defense, with a costly fielding error in the third inning.

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Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Jack Flaherty (9) throws to first base during the second inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park in San Diego on Saturday, March 28, 2026.

After facing the Padres (1-2), the Tigers (2-1) don’t play Sunday, then continue their season against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday (10:10 p.m., Detroit SportsNet) at Chase Field – headlined by the return of their franchise icon, right-hander Justin Verlander.

In Saturday’s game, Flaherty allowed three runs (two earned runs) on four hits and four walks with two strikeouts across 4⅓ innings, throwing 89 pitches. He retired the first eight batters, then everything unraveled.

With two outs in the third inning, the Padres delivered three singles in a row from Freddy Fermin, Jake Cronenworth and Fernando Tatis Jr. The Tatis single came on a down-and-away slider that was slapped into right field, providing a 1-0 lead.

A mistake let the Padres add on.

Second baseman Gleyber Torres missed the catch on a perfect throw as catcher Jake Rogers tried to cut down Tatis trying to steal second base. The ball flew past Torres and rolled into center field, allowing Cronenworth to score easily for a 2-0 lead.

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In the fifth inning, Flaherty lost command of all his pitches and couldn’t find a solution. He walked three batters in a row with one out: Cronenworth on four pitches, Tatis on four pitches and Machado on seven pitches.

The Tigers replaced Flaherty with left-handed reliever Brant Hurter, who induced back-to-back groundouts to avoid significant damage, though one of the groundouts let another run score for a 3-0 Padres lead.

In 2025, Flaherty had a 4.64 ERA with an 8.7% walk rate across 161 innings in 31 starts.

He looked like that version in Saturday’s game.

For the Padres, left-hander Randy Vásquez shut down the Tigers.

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San Diego Padres starting pitcher Randy Vasquez (98) throws a pitch during the first inning against the Detroit Tigers at Petco Park in San Diego on Saturday, March 28, 2026.

The Tigers were limited to two hits, both from Colt Keith with a double in the first inning and a single in the sixth inning. Those innings represented the best run-scoring chances.

In the first, the Tigers had two runners in scoring position with one out, only for Riley Greene to ground into a fielder’s choice out at home plate and Spencer Torkelson to strike out.

It was a missed opportunity for Torkelson to challenge the call.

Had he challenged, the called third strike (for a strikeout) would’ve been overturned to a ball (for a walk) – thus loading the bases for a red-hot Kevin McGonigle. Instead, Torkelson simply walked back to the dugout after striking out.

In the sixth, the Tigers had runners on first and second base with two outs for Torkelson, who grounded out. The Tigers also wasted Keith’s leadoff walk in the fourth inning with three outs in a row: Greene struck out, Torkelson flew out and McGonigle grounded out.

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Vásquez tossed six scoreless innings on two hits and three walks with eight strikeouts, throwing 91 pitches. He mixed six pitch types, with his 95 mph fastball blowing away the Tigers.

A pair of relievers kept Vásquez’s momentum rolling, as the Padres received two scoreless innings from left-hander Kyle Hart and a scoreless ninth inning from right-hander Mason Miller.

McGonigle finished 0-for-4 with three strikeouts in his third MLB game.

The Tigers’ offense struck out 13 times.

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