Jack Flaherty’s ERA has taken a beating in his last two starts.
The veteran Detroit Tigers right-hander will look to move past those ugly stats when he faces the visiting Athletics on Wednesday night.
Flaherty had a 3.41 ERA after four consecutive quality outings. He lost his control on June 14, as he issued five walks and gave up three home runs to Cincinnati in an 11-1 thumping. Flaherty was charged with seven runs in 4 2/3 innings.
His last outing was even shorter, as he surrendered eight runs in 2 1/3 innings to Tampa Bay on Friday. The Tigers lost 14-8 as Flaherty’s ERA ballooned to 4.83.
“Execution is what I go to first,” Detroit manager A.J. Hinch said. “There were a lot of pitches in the middle, and they did foul off a lot of balls. But execution, execution, execution. You’ve got to get into counts with well-placed pitches. Not just strikes, not just big strikes. Not just in the box but where you intended. He had a hard time ending at-bats in his favor when the execution slips.”
Flaherty (5-8) lamented that his teammates “deserved better” after a lengthy doubleheader the previous day. His mission is to put the missteps in the back of his mind.
“Just move on,” said Flaherty, 29. “I’ve been doing this for a long time. Just move on to the next one.”
Hinch said he is confident that will happen.
“He will figure it out,” the manager said. “He will get to his bullpen work, and they will break things down.”
Flaherty is 1-2 with a 7.03 ERA in three career starts against the Athletics.
On Wednesday, he will oppose A’s left-hander Jacob Lopez (1-4, 4.25 ERA). In contrast to Flaherty, Lopez has allowed only one earned run in his last three outings.
His last two starts particularly have been impressive. He limited Kansas City to no runs and three hits while striking out nine in six innings in a 4-0 victory on June 14. Lopez followed that by holding Houston to one run and four hits while again fanning nine in six innings of a no-decision on Thursday. The A’s won 6-4 in 10 innings.
Lopez got out of a bases-loaded jam in his last inning by recording back-to-back strikeouts.
“It was his game,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said. “He had a lot of momentum. He was just handling the lineup really well. To give him that opportunity to go through the sixth, as a young starter (27), you’ve got to earn that. He earned it with this performance. To walk off that mound with that feeling, it’s got to build some confidence.”
While Lopez’s fastball has below-average velocity, he racks up strikeouts with a funky delivery and a mix of pitches — four-seam fastball, slider, cutter, changeup and sinker.
“I only throw low-90s or whatever people want to say, but I have five pitches that I like to mix in,” he said. “I think that’s a huge part of pitching. I’m just keeping hitters off-balance and trying to be smart.”
The Tigers brought out the lumber in the series opener on Tuesday. Kerry Carpenter and Dillon Dingler homered, and Riley Greene had four hits in an 11-4 victory.
–Field Level Media
