DETROIT — Round and round it goes. The Tigers’ bullpen carousel continues to spin through veteran right-handed relievers.

Carlos Hernandez and Geoff Hartlieb have come and gone. Next up, 33-year-old Luke Jackson.

“There’s no question we’ve been cycling through some arms,” manager AJ Hinch said before the game Saturday. “And I feel for some of the arms that are now gone. But Luke is going to get an opportunity here. He’s a veteran guy who I think has some upside to recapture some of the usage he’s had in the past.”

The Tigers designated Hartlieb for assignment and signed Jackson, who had been released by the Texas Rangers on Friday. The Rangers will pay the remainder of his $1.5 million contract for this year. The Tigers will pay him the prorated MLB minimum.

Jackson, who has 15 games of postseason experience and was part of the Atlanta Braves’ 2021 World Series championship run, features an elite slider, which he throws off a 94-mph four-seam fastball.

In 2019, he posted a 36.7% whiff rate. In 2023, it was still at 30%. This year, it’d fallen to 22.4%. In 39 games with the Rangers this year, he had a 4.11 ERA with a team-high nine saves.

But his strikeout rate (15.8%) and walk rate (12.5%) were both well off his career norms.

“The swing-and-miss hasn’t been there this year, but we’re hoping to get more out of that,” Hinch said. “The breaking ball is real. He’s a guy who has been there and done that a little bit.”

He got five outs against the Tigers on Sunday.

“We try to give opportunity when it’s there and to the guys we feel can help us win,” Hinch said. “On the front end, I don’t know how long the opportunity is going to be for some of these guys.”

The Tigers gave Hernandez 11 games. Hartlieb got two.

“This one could be anywhere,” Hinch said of Jackson’s potential run. “Luke has been through the league and has run the gauntlet. He’s pitched in the back end of games this year. But performance matters and certainly we expect Luke to make a better impact.

“But the message is, when opportunity opens up, however big or small, try to come in, take it and run with it. We clearly are searching for the right combination of bullpen arms to stay here.”

Important to note, the signing of Jackson does not preclude the Tigers from pursuing other bullpen arms this week prior to the trade deadline.

Montero optioned

The Tigers optioned right-hander Keider Montero back to Triple-A Toledo after the game Friday to clear a roster spot for Tarik Skubal’s return from the paternity list.

“Keider has been on the shuttle between Toledo and the big leagues,” Hinch said. “Some of it has been where the health of our team has been. Some of it has been an execution issue.”

After getting tagged for six runs (five earned) and nine hits in four innings Friday, Montero’s ERA ballooned to 4.66 with a 1.432 WHIP.

“It’s about execution and he’s going to work his tail off,” Hinch said. “He really takes to a plan that’s laid out in front of him. You see it when he’s good. He’s got two types of spin, two types of fastballs and the occasional changeup. But when he’s not, it’s long at-bats and big counts and he’s spraying the ball and getting himself in harm’s way.

“The ebbs and flows of a young pitcher can be sometimes hard to navigate. But he’s going to put the work in and that’s why we sent him down — to work.”

Hinch said Montero would continue to start at Toledo, but did not rule out the possibility of him being a bullpen piece in the final two months.

“We’ve proven we’re willing to do anything,” he said. “We’ll use our players accordingly. We’re not pursuing that right now but I don’t think we’d turn our backs on an idea like that.”

The move also clears the way for rookie right-hander Troy Melton to take the fifth spot in the rotation.

The emergence of Troy is part of this conversation when you make a move like this,” Hinch said. “Troy was at a really good place at a really good time. He needed the challenge of being up in the big leagues.”

Around the horn

The Tigers traded outfielder Brewer Hicklen, who was designated for assignment Wednesday, to the Phillies for cash considerations.

PITTSBURGH — Tommy Kahnle was a ball of energy bouncing through the clubhouse before the game Tuesday. After a brief chat with two reporters, he broke off a nifty cartwheel through the clubhouse. To see a sturdy, 235-pound 35-year-old with tree-trunk legs pull that off and stick the dismount — quite a sight.

Amazing the healing power of a scoreless, two punch-out inning on a man’s body and soul.

“Yesterday felt a lot better,” he said.

Kahnle has been going through it this month, including a three-outing stretch where allowed nine runs, seven in two ninth innings without recording an out. But Monday, he pitched a clean, 13-pitch, nine-strike eighth inning, striking out Ke’Bryan Hayes looking at a fastball and Henry Davis chasing a changeup.

“That was a positive outing for Tommy,” manager AJ Hinch said. “I was hoping to get a lower leverage situation where he could come in and work on a few things and have a bit of breathing room. Ideally, we’d be up 5-0 where it could have been a positive for him and a win.

“But he came in mixing a couple of fastballs, his changeup was a little better and he was able to walk off the field with a positive feeling – that’s a step in the right direction.”

Kahnle said he’s been searching for some consistency with his release point, especially on the changeup.

“I got into a pattern of not throwing (between outings),” he said. “I told myself, post-break I was going back out there and start throwing pre-game more, just to refine the arm slot. It was a lot better yesterday.”

He said the changeup is still not quite right. He feels like he’s executing one out of every three.

“It’s something release-wise,” he said. “I feel like I’m cutting it a lot and not getting the traditional fade and drop. I’m still trying to find that. When you cut them and they come back over the plate, you saw the damage.”

In the meantime, he feels like he might be on to something with the fastball.

“That was nice to see,” he said. “I think the fastball can be a game-changer going forward.”

He only threw three four-seamers (92 mph) Monday, but he got one whiff and the called-third from Hayes.

Farewell B-White

Right-hander Brendan White, who debuted with the Tigers in 2023 and has been battling nerve issues in his elbow the last two years, has been released.

The move was made Tuesday to facilitate the promotion of 6-8 right-hander RJ Petit from Double-A Erie to Triple-A Toledo.

White, 26, will forever be known for helping Reese Olson develop more spin on his slider.

“He helped me a lot,” Olson said Tuesday. “Just learning about the analytical stuff and with my slider for sure. He’s actually going to be in my wedding this offseason.”

Olson and White were roommates in Double-A in 2022. At the time, Olson was mostly a fastball-changeup guy. White was getting nearly 3,000 rpms of spin on his slider and Olson wanted some of that.

The two talked about grip changes and which side of the mound stand on. And very quickly, Olson added a big league-ready slider to his mix.

Which made for a special night at Comerica Park on June 24, 2023. White was in the bullpen watching Olson, in his fourth career start earn his first big-league win beating the Twins with a lethal dose of 3,000-rpm sliders. He posted nine strikeouts in 5.1 innings, with 11 whiffs on 15 swings with the slider.

He made sure to give a hat-tip to White afterward.

“I talked to him the other day,” Olson said. “He’s fine. He’s pretty confident. He’s obviously got the stuff. I’m sure he will land somewhere.”

In 2023, White pitched in 33 games and had a stretch of 21 games where he allowed just nine earned runs with 25 strikeouts, posting whiff rates of 35% on his four-seamer and 35.8% with his slider.

Injuries, though, prevented him from building on that first year.

Around the horn

… Kerry Carpenter (hamstring) began his rehab assignment with Triple-A Toledo in Indianapolis Tuesday, and went 1-for-4. “It’s the first step in what is going to be a multiple-game step toward getting back,” Hinch said.

… Right-hander Sawyer Gipson-Long (neck) has been pulled off his rehab assignment. He came out of his last still feeling discomfort in his neck and general fatigue. The expectation is that he will be shut down for a week and then resume his throwing program. His 30-day rehab clock will reset in seven days but Hinch said he doesn’t expect to need the full 30 days.

DETROIT – The genesis of Tarik Skubal being named the American League’s starting pitcher in the All-Star Game Tuesday began with a phone call from Yankees ace Max Fried.

“It was actually a really cool conversation from his perspective, because of his history with Atlanta and all that stuff,” Skubal said.

Fried, of course, spent the first eight years of his career with the Braves. Obviously, him going back to that city to start the All-Star Game against the National League would have been a big deal.

And Fried, at that point, hadn’t pulled himself out of the game.

“He asked me if I wanted to start,” Skubal said. “I told him, ‘Hey, if you want to start, I get it. I’m a fan of the game and I want to watch that, as well. If you want to start, go for it. I’m not going to get offended or anything like that.’

“And he was like, ‘No, I don’t really care about the story. I think you deserve (to start). I just wondered if you want to start.’”

Skubal very much wanted to start. Fried went to manager Aaron Boone and told him he thought Skubal deserved to start the game. On Saturday, Boone notified Skubal and the Tigers that he would be starting on Tuesday.

“It was a cool thing,” Skubal said of Fried’s phone call. “It was a very professional thing to do and you have a ton of respect for guys who do stuff like that, especially with the story of him going back there and obviously he’s been great this year, too.”

Fried, who came out of his start Saturday with a blister on his finger, won’t be participating in the game.

“Anybody in their career would want to start an All-Star Game,” Skubal said. “As a kid, you watch those games and you want to be the first arm out there. I think that’s something I’ll keep pretty special for the rest of my career.

“I’m glad I’m able to check that box at this point in my career. I don’t know how many more of these games I’ll get to play in so I’m really glad I get to start this one.”

Skubal will be starting opposite Pirates phenom Paul Skenes, something that just missed happening when the Pirates were at Comerica Park last month.

“That’ll be fun,” Skubal said. “He’s a helluva talent. We missed each other by a day-night doubleheader earlier this season. It’ll be fun to square off on a big stage like that and it’ll be fun to compete against the game’s best.”

Better with buddies

Last season, the Tigers’ representation in the All-Star Game was Skubal and Riley Greene. This year, the Tigers are sending a six-player entourage.

“I feel like with the whole group coming with me, it’s going to make it more fun,” Greene said. “I’m not saying Skub wasn’t fun. Skub was fun. But having more guys there is going to be great.”

Gleyber Torres, who is returning to the All-Star Game for the first time since 2019, seconded that.

“It’s really special to start the All-Star Game with your buddies,” he said. “These opportunities are really good as a player, but also really special for the entire organization. Detroit is going to be represented by four starters and two guys who will come off the bench in the second part of the game.

“That’s really special and we’re going to try to put on a good show.”

Besides Skubal, Greene and Torres, Javier Baez will be the American League’s starting centerfielder, even though he hasn’t played in center since June 4.

“It’s pretty great,” Baez said when he was announced as a starter. “Right now it feels a little weird; I am playing more short. But this is what you work for, to be an All-Star. … I am grateful to enjoy this with my family now.”

Utility man Zach McKinstry and pitcher Casey Mize will also be part of the Tigers’ contingent in Atlanta.

The Tigers presented all six players with beautiful Shinola watchs before the game Sunday.

‘Just be yourself’

Greene has had a remarkable first half. His 24 homers and 78 RBI after Sunday are franchise records by a left-handed hitter before the break. And, counting right-handed hitters, that pre-break production has been matched by only three other players – Hank Greenberg, Cecil Fielder and Miguel Cabrera.

“Like, yeah, this is my second All-Star Game, but I am going to cherish it like it’s my first,” Greene said. “And if there are any more in the future, I’m going to cherish those the same way. You never know when it’s going to be your last one.”

Greene isn’t competing in the Home Run Derby, but he’s planning on watching at least the first half of it Monday. He’s also looking forward to letting himself relax and take in more of the hoopla that surrounds the game.

“I know what to expect this year,” he said. “It was a little harder to relax the first time because you were always like, ‘What do I do?’ You don’t want to step on anyone’s toes. I know now, whatever you do, you aren’t going to step on anyone’s toes.

“Just be yourself. We’re here to hang out and play a game.”

Around the horn

Hinch shared his tentative pitching plan for after the All-Star break. Reese Olson will start the first game in Texas and Skubal will pitch the ESPN game on Sunday. Mize is penciled in for Saturday, but Hinch said that could change if he ends up pitching in the All-Star Game Tuesday. If he does, Hinch could plug Keider Montero into the Saturday start, or deploy a bullpen game.

… Right-hander Sawyer Gipson-Long (neck) is expected to continue his rehab work in Lakeland during the break.

DETROIT – Sometimes it happens like you dream it. Or pretty darn close to it.

Lefty Dietrich Enns’ last big-league start was Sept. 24, 2021. He’s traveled a long, long road to get back. And he certainly made the most of his return.

The 34-year-old Central Michigan product allowed one hit over five impressive innings Thursday, helping the Tigers beat the Athletics 8-0 and take the three-game series at Comerica Park.

“I’m proud of him for the journey,” manager AJ Hinch said. “He’s been around the world and worked his way back.”

Literally.

Enns, who last pitched in the big leagues with the Rays, spent 2022 and 2023 in Japan and last season pitched in Korea. The Tigers signed him and after he made a strong impression this spring, he was dominant in 14 starts at Triple-A Toledo (2.89 ERA with 71 strikeouts in 62.1 innings).

“Reliable human, reliable pitcher,” Hinch said. “He earned his way back here by how he pitched in Triple-A. I told him he got called up because he can help us win.”

Enns got into the game with an eight-pitch, six-strike first inning and only had to work out of one mess.

In the third inning, Eastern Michigan product Max Schuemann rolled an infield single to the left side of the infield – the only hit Enns allowed – and stole second. He advanced to third on a flyout.

But Enns left him there, getting the dangerous Brent Rooker to bounce into a 5-4-3 double-play.

Smartly mixing changeups, cutters and curveballs off well-located 93-mph four-seam fastballs, Enns struck out four and got six ground-ball outs. The Athletics put 11 balls in play against him with a mild average exit velocity of 81.4 mph.

“He dove right in with our pitching group,” Hinch said. “He’s not just doing the same thing over and over again, hoping for a new opportunity. He refined his changeup. He’s learned count leverage a little better. His arsenal has shifted.

“Adjustments don’t mean a complete overhaul. It just means subtle tweaks and the performance followed.”

It was Enns’ third big-league win. His other two were against the Tigers, Sept. 11 at Comerica and Sept. 16 at Tropicana Field.

Spencer Torkelson got the offense started, lining a changeup from lefty Jeffrey Springs over the wall in left field. It was his 17th homer and his first since June 10. He’d gone 44 plate appearances between homers and was 4 for 37 in that stretch.

They stretched the lead to 3-0 in the third. Jahmai Jones bounced one over the bag at third base that eluded Max Muncy and caromed off the side wall for a double.

Parker Meadows scored easily from second and Gleyber Torres hustled around from first.

Torres padded the Tigers’ lead with an opposite-field, two-run homer to right off reliever J.T. Ginn in the seventh. It was his eighth homer.

The Tigers, specifically Zach McKinstry, ran themselves out of a couple scoring opportunities.

With runners at first and second and one out in the fourth, McKinstry broke for third base on a 2-2 pitch to Jake Rogers. Perhaps he thought the count was full, but he stopped, got in a rundown and was tagged out.

With two outs in the sixth, McKinstry singled and stole second base. He tried to score on an infield ground ball by Javier Baez. Baez was safe on a throwing error by Muncy but McKinstry was thrown out at the plate by first baseman and former Tiger Gio Urshela.

McKinstry more than made up for the outs on the bases. He had three hits and paid full penance in the eighth inning by ripping a two-run triple into the right-field corner off lefty TJ McFarland. He leads the American League with eight triples.

The Tigers (51-31) continue to pile up series wins. They’ve won 18 of 25 series with one tie. They’ve won 10 of 13 series at Comerica Park.

TAMPA, Fla. — You don’t accept excuses, but facts are facts, as they say.

And the fact is, this has been an arduous week for the Tigers.

They played their 12th game in 14 games Sunday, including a long, split doubleheader at Comerica Park on Thursday, a flight that got to Tampa at 3 a.m. Friday, night game Friday, noon games Saturday and Sunday — in dense 90-plus-degree heat and against the hottest team in baseball.

“It’s brutal,” manager AJ Hinch said before the game Sunday. “Guys are banged up and tired and frustrated with a couple of the losses. … It’s part of it. It’s not been great. We’re not playing our best through it.

“But we’re going to keep working, keep trying to deal with the circumstances. But yeah, not good.”

At least the flight home was a happy one.

Wenceel Perez lined an opposite-field, two-run homer, on an 0-2 fastball from lefty reliever Garrett Cleavinger, breaking a 1-1 tie in the seventh inning and helping the Tigers snap a three-game losing streak and salvage the finale with a 9-3 win against the Rays at Steinbrenner Field.

“It’s huge,” said Riley Greene, whose fingerprints, glove prints, were all over this victory. “We lost the first couple of games, had a couple of rough days with delays and a doubleheader. But at the end of the day, we still have to win a baseball game and that was a good one to win.”

The Tigers, at 49-30, still have the best record in baseball and a healthy nine-game lead in the Central Division. Even after a 20-game stretch where they played .500 baseball.

“Our reset button has been pretty good,” Hinch said. “But we’re not trying after win totals in June and we’re not after any recognition. We just reset and play the next series. I love this team for a lot of reasons but one of the main reasons is that we come to play every day.”

The Tigers blew the game open with a six-run ninth against reliever Forrest Whitley, keyed by a three-run blast by Parker Meadows. Spencer Torkelson sliced an RBI double. Perez also singled in a run. And, in keeping with the theme of the week, the game was delayed 18 minutes by a sudden shower before the Tigers even made an out in the top of the ninth.

From the outside looking in, it felt like a badly-needed win, if only to steady a brief wobble. But that’s not the view from the inside.

“We’re not going to take the mentality of every time we win, we’re great, and every time we lose, we suck,” Hinch said. “That’s not how you get through this type of schedule, and it’s not how you get through this type of season.

“We will be fine.”

They expect Casey Mize to be fine, too, though he left the game with the trainer one batter into the sixth inning. The heat index Sunday was over 100 degrees and that absolutely was a factor.

“Just started cramping in my right leg,” said Mize, who pitched a solid five innings, allowing only a solo home run to Junior Caminero, who has hit 19 of them this season. “And it continued when I got (to the clubhouse) in other body parts. It was a really hot day.”

Mize grimaced after throwing a 92-mph fastball to Caminero. Mize had been firing it between 94 and 97 mph before that.

Immediately, Hinch and trainer Kelly Rhoades came to the mound.

“We were worried (about cramping) beforehand because he’s had that before,” Hinch said. “He wanted some more time and was really hoping I would give him some warm-up pitches. But not in this heat, at this time in the season, where he was (80 pitches) and where he was in their lineup (middle).

“He had a short leash in that inning, anyway. I just took him out, very prematurely, because of the cramp.”

Mize the competitor wanted to keep pitching, especially in what was a 1-1 game. But Mize, the teammate, understood it was the right move.

“I felt like I could’ve continued but I think it turned out great,” he said with a smile. “In retrospect, it looks like the right call. I wish I could’ve pitched through the inning but I understand why, it was smart to get me out of there.”

In a lot of ways, this turned into the Riley Greene Show this weekend. He homered twice on Friday, and on Sunday he doubled twice and scored twice.

He also did his level best to keep Mize’s track clean with three outstanding defensive plays in left field in the first four innings.

“He made some great plays out there for me, for sure,” Mize said. “Like he always does for everybody. He can change the game with his bat.”

And his glove.

With a runner on and no outs in the second inning, Greene ran a long way toward the left-field line, laid out and caught a slicing bloop off the bat of Jake Mangum. With a runner on third and two outs in the third, he tracked a slicing foul ball to the side wall, leaped up and nearly went all the way over the wall to make the catch.

In the fourth, he tracked a laser into the left-field gap and took extra bases away from Jonathan Aranda.

“We’ve got to play 27 outs,” Greene said. “You can’t give them anything, especially in this ballpark. Anything can happen. We’ve already seen that here.”

Later, with the Tigers protecting the two-run lead in the eighth, Greene made another sliding catch after a long run, taking a hit from Caminero. Brandon Lowe was on first base with no outs, so it was another critical catch.

“Their offense has been pretty relentless on the other side, especially this last month,” Hinch said. “You have to record as many outs as you can when you can. They put balls in play, they run the bases and this is a big outfield. As small as right field is, left field is big. Riley came up huge.”

The Tigers bullpen, which got a much-needed break Saturday because starter Sawyer Gipson-Long ate 6.1 innings in bulk relief, locked down the final 12 outs, though the last three took a bit.

Tyler Holton and Chase Lee got five outs. Tommy Kahnle got four big outs before the Tigers blew it open. Lefty Brant Hurter, who threw 31 pitches Saturday as the opener, started the ninth, but couldn’t find the plate.

He threw 18 pitches, just seven strikes, loading the bases with a pair of walks and a hit-batsman.

Brenan Hanifee was summoned and got through the ninth, allowing a two-run single by Taylor Walls.

“I know you’re trying to get me to make a bigger deal out of this (win),” Hinch said. “But honestly, we just come to play every day. Obviously it’s an important win before an off day. We want to salvage a game here and it’s been a rough go. But it is what it is.

“It doesn’t help us or hurt us on Tuesday.”

Reset and move forward.

TAMPA, Fla. — The question was put to Tigers’ manager AJ Hinch before the game Sunday: Has your faith in the opener strategy waned?

The last three games in which an opener was used to start the game ended in lopsided losses, including Saturday when opener Brant Hurter was charged with four unearned runs in the first inning.

Even though the strategy hasn’t been the direct cause-and-effect in every loss, it’s been a far less reliable play over the last month since injuries to starting pitchers Reese Olson and Jackson Jobe dinged the rotation.

Seemed like a good time to check on Hinch’s commitment to the strategy. Has it lessened?

“No,” he said. “The strategy is sound. I think the opener part is a little bit misconstrued as, it’s good when it works and bad when it doesn’t. It impacts things you don’t necessarily see all the time.”

It impacts the opponent’s lineup construction, Hinch said. It impacts how they space their hitters (right-handed and left-handed), which can impact decisions later in the game. And most importantly, when it works, it allows Hinch to dictate when to insert the bulk-innings pitcher.

“It’s a good strategy because the top of the lineup, which are generally their best hitters, don’t see the same pitchers all the time,” Hinch said.

Like in Game 3 of the ALDS last October when the Tigers used the strategy and blanked the Guardians, 3-0, and Jose Ramirez went hitless and faced a different pitcher in each of his four plate appearances.

That’s the gold-star example of the benefits of the strategy. It hasn’t worked quite as cleanly this season.

“When it doesn’t work, you feel like the other way would’ve worked out,” Hinch said. “It’s like football when you go for it on fourth down, or basketball when you run a fast-paced offense. When it doesn’t work, it sucks. And when it does work, it’s awesome.

“But that’s a hard way to live when you are trying to strategize against an opponent.”

The Tigers fell into a 4-0, first-inning hole on both Friday and Saturday. They used a traditional starter on Friday (Jack Flaherty) and the opener on Saturday.

“Like, I get the questions and I get the frustration,” Hinch said. “But I get frustrated when our starter gives up runs in the first inning, too. It’s not because of a certain strategy.”

The reason Hinch used the lefty Hurter on Saturday was to combat the lefties at the top of the Rays lineup. Hurter ended up yielding a double to lefty Jonathan Aranda and walking lefty Josh Lowe. He also struck out lefty Brandon Lowe, but Lowe reached on a passed ball by catcher Jake Rogers.

All of which torpedoed the inning, and the strategy.

“After 24 hours, you think about yesterday’s game,” Hinch said. “If we get through that first inning, three up and three down, is a good strategy or a bad strategy? Good strategy. But that’s the best part of sports. We have these reactions and these emotions that the other way would’ve been better.

“We don’t like it when something doesn’t work out. But it doesn’t make the strategy poor.”

It’s not a personnel issue, either. The Tigers’ bullpen, although it’s been heavily taxed over the last three weeks or longer, is still built to handle any type of strategy, be it an opener or even straight bullpen games.

“There are times when maybe the strategy needs to be questioned,” Hinch said. “It’s not a one-size-fits-all approach with us or with any team. But if you ask managers around the league whether they care or not if they have to face an opener strategy, most guys don’t like to compete against it.

“It’s a pretty solid strategy when the opponent doesn’t like it. It’s not an exact science and it’s not perfect. But it’s a strategy and it’s been effective for a while now and there’s no reason to abandon it.”

Around the horn

The Tigers have been charged with 11 unearned runs in the last six games.

… Reliever Alex Lange (lat repair) made his second rehab outing at West Michigan on Saturday. He allowed a run and two hits with two strikeouts, throwing 20 pitches and 15 strikes. “I watched it,” Hinch said. “Looked like he came through it well. But with him right now, we’re in live BP, first day of spring mode.”

… Matt Vierling (shoulder) had been in an 0-for-10 rut in his rehab assignment with Toledo, but he broke out with three hits Saturday. He’s still only being used as the designated hitter. He is expected to start playing the field soon.

… Andy Ibáñez, who was optioned to Toledo on June 6, is 9 for 42 (.214) this month, with a .327 on-base percentage and .565 OPS.

TAMPA — No strategy can survive a lack of execution.

And recently, the Detroit Tigers’ strategy of using an opener ahead of a bulk reliever, such a weapon at the end of last season, has been doomed by shoddy execution, be it by the opener, the bulk operator, the defense or all of the above.

Lefty opener Brant Hurter was charged with four unearned runs in the first inning Saturday and for the third time this season, the Tigers have lost three straight games.

The Tampa Bay Rays, winners in seven of their last nine, coasted to an 8-3 victory over the Tigers at Steinbrenner Field.

It was second straight game the Tigers fell behind by four runs in the first inning.

“That’s what we try to do,” said catcher Jake Rogers. “Punch first. That’s what we’ve done to a lot of teams. But Tampa is hot right now and playing a good brand of baseball.”

Hurter got the first three hitters out in the first inning, striking out two of them. But Brandon Lowe, the No. 2 hitter, reached first base on a third-strike passed ball by Rogers. Lowe whiffed at a 91-mph sinker but the ball seemed to handcuff Rogers. It hit off his glove and went to the backstop.

“I’m not going to make excuses,” Rogers said. “It needs to be caught. It was a sinker away. It kind of caught a seam and cut on him and I botched it and hit it to the backstop. Which is not what you want from me. It was a crucial point in the game and it led a much larger inning.”

The Rays turned that extra out into four, two-out runs. But that’s not all on Rogers. Hurter struck out right-handed hitting Junior Caminero for the second out with Lowe still at second base.

He never got the third out.

“The reality of that first inning is that Hurter couldn’t get the lefties out,” manager AJ Hinch said. “That inning turned into a mess. But in that situation (using Hurter to open), we were hoping to get the lefties.”

Lefty Jonathan Aranda doubled and then Hurter started spraying pitches. He walked righty Christopher Morel and, with the bases loaded, walked lefty Josh Lowe. He then forced in another run by hitting Jose Cabellaro. His day ended after switch-hitter Taylor Walls plated two with a single.

“Giving up the extra base runner is painful,” Hinch said. “Especially when you look back at it. But even in the moment, we were still in a good position to get out of it. I’m not worried about Hurter, at all. It was a bad inning for him.”

Sawyer Gipson-Long finished the first inning but his mission at that point was more of a recovery than a rescue. With the bullpen covering 14 innings over the last three games, including the doubleheader Thursday, it was paramount for Gipson-Long to eat innings.

That he was able to pitch through the seventh inning was the biggest positive of the day for the Tigers. He gave the bullpen a chance to reset for the finale on Sunday.

“That was big,” Hinch said. “Big for him, first off. We want to get him going. The word is out that we pound the zone early. He threw a ton of first-pitch strikes and they were first-pitch swinging from 12:10 p.m. (game time) on.

“It was good that he could get us into seven innings and be able to hold his stuff.”

Gipson-Long went 6.1 innings, his longest outing this season, and was charged with four runs.

“It’s not a traditional start but I know I have to go out there and eat up innings,” he said. “I need to get into the later part of the game for my team and if I can do that, I can put us in a good spot.”

He was dinged by three solo homers, two of them in the fourth inning, by Danny Jansen and Caminero, his 19th homer this season. Morel launched a 434-footer in the seventh.

“I thought I pitched my game pretty well,” said Gipson-Long making his fourth start back after recovering from elbow and hip surgeries. “Solo homers, they’re not something you want, but they’re not going to beat you in the long run. If I keep throwing strikes, everything evens out.

“I feel like staying in the zone, not walking people, throwing to contact, that’s a good approach against any team.”

Gipson-Long’s performance certainly put the Tigers in a good spot for Sunday. So did an incredible, 13-pitch dogfight in the eighth inning by Jahmai Jones.

“You try to put pressure on teams, even in defeat,” Hinch said.

With a couple of pinch-hitting moves in the eighth, Hinch forced the Rays to use two relievers in the eighth inning get a third reliever warm in a blowout game.

Righty-swinging Jones pinch-hit for Zach McKinstry against hard-throwing lefty Mason Montgomery. He fouled off five 3-2 pitches, all of them at 98 and 99 mph. On the 13th pitch, Jones lofted an RBI double to the wall in left center.

“I just went up there battling,” Jones said. “The guy’s got a very good heater, as you could see. The biggest thing was just trying to get a barrel to the ball on a guy that throws 100. All it was was just try to fight and battle.”

The 13-pitch at-bat, plus right-handed hitting Dillon Dingler’s presence on the on-deck circle, forced Rays’ manager Kevin Cash to bring in one of his leverage relievers, Kevin Kelly.

“You’re just trying to create a little bit of an advantage for tomorrow by putting up good at-bats later today,” Hinch said. “Our guys play the whole game.”

It seemed odd, using Dingler to pinch-hit for lefty Parker Meadows against a funky righty like Kelly, but there was a method to the madness. Kelly ended up throwing 21 pitches to get five outs.

“Wanted Kelly in the game,” Hinch said. “We wanted to make them use as much pitching as we could. If I leave (Meadows) in, he’s going to leave his lefty (Montgomery) in. Bringing Dingler in got Kelly in for two ups.”

Just little nips at the Rays’ heels as they’re running away with a convincing win that could trip them up at some point on Sunday.

“We play tomorrow, twelve o’clock,” Hinch said, on any possible overreaction to a three-game losing skid. “Come watch us if you’re here, watch us on TV if you’re not. We have a good team. We’ll be fine.”

TAMPA – Riley Greene gets down to this part of the country, just a couple of hours away from his home and family outside of Orlando, once a year during the baseball season. And usually, Team Greene comes out in hordes for this series against the Rays.

So, does he have a lot of family here for this one?

“No,” he said.

Huh?

“So, it’s my godchild’s first birthday and everyone is going to that instead of watching Riley play,” he said, with a wistful shrug.

More than 100 people were expected to attend young Riker’s first birthday bash in the Orlando area.

“At least my parents are here and my sister,” Greene said.

The rest are missing quite a show.

Greene, in case you’re not paying attention, is on a tear. He hit two home runs and knocked in four Friday night, giving him 17 homers and 59 RBI on the season. He’s got 29 RBI in his last 29 games and he’s making a strong run at player of the month honors for June, slashing .353/.400/.618 with a 1.1018 OPS with four homers and 19 RBI entering play Saturday.

“I really haven’t changed much,” Greene said. “Just trying to get a good pitch to hit, put my body in a good position to hit the ball and see what happens.”

Damage happens. Lots of damage.

He’s slugging .526 on the season. The last Tiger to have 59 RBI on June 21 was Miguel Cabrera, who had 71 in 2013. He is one of three American League players to have at least 17 homers, 59 RBI and 35 extra-base hits, joining Aaron Judge and Cal Raleigh.

Still, he contends that nothing has really changed. He’s not consciously chasing power. Except for significantly more tilt in his swing, his mechanics and approach are mostly the same as last season.

He was asked before the game Saturday if he went into last offseason consciously trying to add more slug to his offensive profile.

“To be honest, no,” he said. “Just kind of did the same stuff over and over again like I’ve done the past offseason. I just think it comes with being on time and getting a good pitch to hit.”

This has always been Greene’s primary focus. It’s what manager AJ Hinch asks him after just about every at-bat – did you get a good pitch to hit. Here’s why that’s so important:

Greene, overall, is slugging .554 against fastballs and .580 against breaking balls. When he’s ahead in the count, he’s slugging .826 on fastballs, .773 on breaking balls and .727 on off-speed pitches.

Impressive.

“I think it speaks to my approach,” Greene said. “It speaks to another year under my belt. More experience is huge. And maybe I’m getting a little stronger. Who knows?”

For all of Greene’s production, the Tigers, still with the best record in baseball, have hit a bit of a plateau. They came in Saturday on a rare losing streak (two games) and had split their last 10.

And Saturday’s 12:10 p.m. start meant they would be playing at least 37 innings of baseball over the last 60 hours with more than three hours of rain delays and a two-hour, late-night, early-morning plane ride mixed in.

“We just flush it,” Greene said. “Yesterday was yesterday. It doesn’t really matter because we can’t change what happened. Just focus on today. This is just part of it. We can’t complain about it and say it’s a tough stretch. At the end of the day, that’s just kind of an excuse.

“People go through it. It is what it is. We just have to figure it out and play through it.”

DETROIT — Wenceel Perez’s face lit up when he was asked where his confidence level was right now.

“Oh my gosh,” he said. “It’s so high right now.”

Admittedly, minutes after he produced a homer, triple and knocked in three runs in the Tigers’ 7-3 win Tuesday, that was a leading question. But his answer wasn’t bravado. His confidence has been hard-earned.

“I’ve worked so much during the offseason,” he said. “I’ve worked so much my entire career. That’s why I have that confidence. I work so much, I know what I’m able to do.”

The switch-hitting Perez, still only 25 years old, is off to a sizzling start, with five homers in 62 plate appearances and hitting .316 with a .702 slug and 1.057 OPS.

“He’s a really good hitter,” Javier Báez said. “He takes almost every at-bat deep, like to 3-2. He sees a lot of pitches. And he’s really focused on what we try to work on every day here.”

We are watching a hitter mature right before our eyes and the real growth has come from the right side of the plate. That’s always been his least productive side of the plate. Not so much any more.

“He’s messing up some scouting reports that have him stronger from the left side,” manager AJ Hinch said. “And he has been. But there’s some pop in that bat and he flexed it tonight.”

He flexed it two games in a row. He doubled and homered off Reds’ lefty Wade Miley on Sunday before lining a pull-side homer off Pirates’ lefty Bailey Falter on Tuesday.

Perez went into Wednesday 5 for 12 with two homers and two doubles against left-handed pitching. Last season, albeit in a much larger sample size, he slashed .209/.292/.302 with one home run.

Two things have helped him get to his right-handed A-swing more often. One is a mindset. He’s no longer just trying to put the ball in play from the right side.

“He going to make contact,” Hinch said. “And that’s huge. But now he’s hunting damage, which is encouraging as he’s trying to contribute in different ways. He’s an energy at-bat and in the last couple games, he’s been a difference-maker.”

The second adjustment has been mechanical.

“I’ve turned my front (left) foot in trying to stay more inside to the ball,” Perez said. “I had been opening up a little too quickly.”

If you open your hips too quickly, you pull off the ball and lose the power in your swing. Statcast data shows Perez, batting right-handed, is standing three inches deeper in the box than he was last year and is getting off his fast swing 3% more often.

Additionally, he’s squaring up 66.7% of the balls he’s put in play in the small sample, compared to 28.9% last season.

“Last year was my first year and I was just trying to adjust to everything,” Perez said. “I got through that last year and now I have a better routine and a better idea of what I’m doing now.”

It shows.

Vierling pushing it

Matt Vierling, for the second day in a row, increased the intensity of his throwing program. He was simulating throwing on the run and was throwing nearly full speed.

“Just trying to do my best to stack heavy days,” he said. “So when I come back, I am used to the volume and intensity and be prepared to filter in wherever AJ needs me and not have to hold back.”

Vierling has missed all but four games this season working his way through a rotator cuff injury. He is expected to rejoin the Toledo Mud Hens in St. Paul and resume his rehab assignment.

DETROIT — The Tigers have reached outside the organization for some bullpen reinforcements. Whether this is a stopgap move or something more remains to be seen.

But on Monday, the Tigers claimed 28-year-old right-hander Carlos Hernandez off waivers from the Phillies and are on the hook for the remainder of his $1.16 million contract.

He pitched parts of five seasons with the Royals (2020-2024) but his high-end velocity (97.8 mph average on his four-seamer) never translated into consistent strikeouts or overall positive results.

He had a 4.95 ERA in 256.1 innings with the Royals. And in 25 games with the Phillies, he posted a 5.26 ERA with 23 strikeouts and 13 walks in 25.2 innings.

The Tigers didn’t immediately announce whether Hernandez would report to Detroit or to Triple-A Toledo. Presumably, that decision will be made once the medical reports on Will Vest are collected and reviewed.

Vest, who has been the Tigers’ de facto closer, left the game in the eighth inning Sunday and uncorking a fastball over catcher Dillon Dingler’s head and reporting “feeling something” in his pinky.

The Tigers’ 40-man roster is now full. Hernandez takes the spot opened when the club designated John Brebbia for assignment.

DETROIT — Saturdays have not been kind to the Tigers. Plain and simple.

The 11-1 thumping they took from the Reds at Comerica Park was their seventh straight Saturday loss. That’s 27% of their losses.

Go figure.

“Really?” said Jake Rogers. “That’s a stat for you. I wouldn’t have even thought twice about that. Something about Saturdays, I guess. How are Sundays?”

Sundays are much better. Rubber matches in series have been much better. The Tigers will have a chance to win their eighth straight three-game series on Sunday. But the fact that Rogers finished the game as the Tigers’ pitcher tells you how this one went.

“I enjoyed it,” said Rogers, who last pitched in 2021. “I don’t know if I looked like it.”

The Tigers, specifically starter Jake Flaherty, paid the price for violating one of the foundational tenets of their own organizational philosophy: He didn’t dominate the strike zone.

He was cruising along, getting through the first two innings in 20 pitches. Then he started issuing free passes. At first, they were just a nuisance, pushing up his pitch count, causing him some self-inflicted stress.

Elly De La Cruz’s 402-foot missile of a home run leading off the fourth had nothing to do with walks. Still, he walked two in the third. He walked another in the fourth. And by the time the fifth inning rolled around, he was at 67 pitches and wobbling.

“Just battling command,” he said. “I was able to make some adjustments and make some pitches. Even still, we were one pitch away from getting out of it.”

He walked two batters in the fifth, around a couple of singles. One run was in and the bases were loaded. Flaherty’s stress became distress.

Pitching coach Chris Fetter came out to give him a breather. But Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson jumped a first-pitch knuckle-curve and lined it over the bullpen in left field — grand slam home run.

“I left a curveball inside and Stephenson put a good swing on it,” said Flaherty, who did not second-guess the pitch choice. “If we execute it better, the results might be different. Can’t do the what-if game. The result wasn’t a matter of pitch selection. It’s more about the execution.”

Spencer Steer ended Flaherty’s day two batters later with a solo homer to left-center.

“They did a good job laying off some tough pitches and when they got some in the zone, they hit a few out of the park,” manager AJ Hinch said. “I thought Jack got into the game really well, six up and six down. Then the leadoff walk in the third and it kind of starter to unravel.”

Flaherty, who had allowed just six earned runs in his last five starts covering 30 innings, ended up with seven runs, three homers and five walks on his ledger in just 4.2 innings.

“Just get back to executing like we did in the first two innings,” Flaherty said. “It’s not like we have to go back to square one or anything. Just get back to executing and then get on another run with the next one.”

Before the Reds’ outburst, though, Flaherty and Reds starter Brady Singer were trading zeros when the Tigers ran themselves out of an early lead.

Javier Báez led off the third inning with a walk. Trey Sweeney, who was in a 5-for-52 rut with 17 strikeouts in his previous 21 games, blasted a double into the cutout in right-center.

Third base coach Joey Cora, even though there were no outs, waved Báez home. Normally on a ball hit to right-center, the second baseman is the cutoff man. But not if your shortstop is De La Cruz.

“He’s pretty much extraordinary at everything,” Hinch said. “They reversed that (the cutoff man) and I don’t blame them. They want him to take every outfield throw for that reason.”

De La Cruz’s throw home was clocked at 98.3 mph by Statcast. Báez was out by a lot.

“Tough swing of events there,” Hinch said.

Aggressive base running has been a big part of the Tigers’ success. They lead baseball in successfully going first to third (54 times) and with a 55% success rate on extra bases taken.

But this one was hurt, especially since it looked like Báez banged his shoulder on the play.

“We had two things going on there,” Hinch said. “I was seeing if we’re going to review it and I didn’t see Javy initially stay down. Once we knew we weren’t going to review it, he was up and walking off. It was a little bit of a scare.”

The trainers worked on him between innings and he finished the game.

“I will have him in the lineup tomorrow,” Hinch said. “If he can’t go, then you will see that he’s been scratched.”

The Reds piled on in the eighth against veteran John Brebbia. They scored three runs off him in the ninth inning Friday (he only got one out), and in the eighth inning Saturday, No. 9 hitter Matt McLain dinged him with a three-run homer.

Brebbia and Hinch had an extended, back-and-forth conversation after the eighth.

“He wanted to take the brunt of the rest of the game,” Hinch said. “He wanted to make sure I wasn’t going to go to somebody else out of the bullpen with where we were with the score. He was volunteering to go back out and I was telling him no.”

Brebbia threw 22 pitches after throwing 31 Friday night. With the Tigers down by more than 10 runs, Hinch could use Rogers in the ninth.

“He told me he’d kept (the velocity) under 70,” Hinch said. “He lied. I told him, 74 (mph) is no 70.”

Stephenson led off the inning with a double, which led to the 11th run and it also dissuaded Rogers from debuting his infamous knuckleball, the one he bedevils his teammates with in catch play.

“I think that’s the first pitch I ever threw,” Rogers said. “My dad when I was 10 years old said, ‘Hey, throw this.’ I’ve been throwing knuckleballs forever. Who knows if it’s good or not. It’s good in catch play and I’ve always been kind of wanting to.

“But, you know, it’s fun for me to be out there and enjoying it but a lot of times it’s when we’re getting our butts kicked. Not a great time to be joking around.”

DETROIT — Gleyber Torres wasn’t much interested in talking about his All-Star viability, certainly not on June 8. He may only be 28 years old but he has eight hard years invested in this game. He knows better than to put too much energy into things he can’t control.

“Not really,” he said on Sunday when asked if he’s thought about maybe returning to the All-Star game for the first time since 2019. “Just play. This is a long season, by the way. I really believe it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.”

That’s something his father instilled in him as young boy. The game is hard and you are competing against the best players in the world every day. Keep your head down, there will be storms to weather yet.

“It is so gratifying to start really good, but you have to compete and continue to make adjustments,” Torres said. “At some point, the league is going to make adjustments to you and you are going to have make your adjustments for that.

“I feel happy, yes. But I’m going to continue to play and do the adjustments every time.”

Because at some point, he said, slumps are inevitable. And the trick is to keep them from getting too deep.

“You’ve got to be ready to get back to normal fast,” he said. “Just go play and do your job every day.”

Make no mistake, though, if the All-Star game was tomorrow, Torres would have a strong case to be the American League’s starting second baseman. He’s been rock solid both in the field and in the No. 2 slot in manager AJ Hinch’s batting order.

His .381 on-base average and .775 OPS are tops among qualified AL second basemen, and his .269 average is second. He’s been an on-base machine, recording more walks (33) than strikeouts (29).

And most impressively has been his improvement on defense, going from a league-worst minus-11 defensive runs saved last year to a minus-1 this year.

“One thing that makes Gleyber unique is how many little things he’s trying to do better each day,” Hinch said. “And that leads to so many positive things. Whether it’s taking a game plan into the batter’s box, some of the positioning, the base running and just the reactions I’ve learned from him on the mound during a pitching change.

“There are just a lot of things Gleyber does to make a team better.”

Torres’ baseball IQ is elite, his instincts true. His calm assuredness on the field is contagious, solidifying. All of that, plus his selflessness and competitiveness, have made him a perfect fit for this still-young baseball team.

“It’s been good,” Torres said. “Always I am grateful because I got a good opportunity to play another year. Baseball is tough. There are really good players out there who don’t have a job. I’m going to enjoy the journey. I don’t take anything for granted right now.

“Just come to the ballpark and do my thing, do my job and help the team win.”

Torres, signed by the Tigers last December for $15 million, came from a noisy environment in New York. He pushed back when they asked him to move to third base and that created a firestorm of negativity in the media, with the fan base, even with his Yankees’ bosses.

It was a tough way to end a seven-year partnership.

But he’s blossomed in the relative tranquility here. Hinch has given him both the freedom and the trust to just be himself and play. More than that, Hinch has put him in a better position to maximize his skills.

The Tigers, per Sports Info Solutions, are a plus-8 runs saved, with their infield positioning. And that positioning data has helped negate some of Torres’ range deficiencies at second base.

And hitting Torres second, between a couple of left-handed hitters, has unleashed the on-base monster in him.

“I really believe the success, too, is that I know the guys behind me,” Torres said. “I don’t have to force myself to do too much. Just try to get a really good at-bat. If I don’t get anything good to hit, I just pass the baton on to the guys behind me.”

Against right-handed starters, left-handed hitting Parker Meadows is back in the leadoff spot and lefties Kerry Carpenter and Riley Greene have recently hit third and fourth. For stretches before that, lefty Colt Keith was hitting third.

“Basically, I’m the righty at the top of the lineup,” Torres said. “And that means maybe I’m going to see one or two lefties later in the game. Also, the righties are going to throw me a little bit more carefully, because if something happens, I’ve got good cover behind me.”

Torres’ command of the strike zone has been remarkable. His chase rate (15.9%) ranks in the top 100 percentile in baseball, per Statcast. His 17.9% whiff rate is in the top 93rd percentile.

“I don’t try to walk, I just try to hit,” he said. “Just go to the plate, get a really good at-bat and trust my plan. Be really prepared before the game and whatever happens, happens. That’s the main thing for me. I’m always trying to put myself in scoring position if I get my opportunity. If not, if I don’t get my pitch, take my walk.”

He is essentially doing more by swinging less. He’s cut not only his chase rate, but his overall swing percentage from 69% to 65%.

“Hitting is so difficult,” Torres said. “Every time you are facing one of the best pitchers in the game. It’s really about trying to do less. Don’t try to do too much. Don’t try to hit every pitch. That’s the main thing. The past couple of years, I tried to hit everything and that got me into trouble.

“This year, if nobody throws me the pitch I want to hit, I just take it.”

This is a bridge year to free agency for Torres. He wasn’t able to get a multiyear deal coming off a rough (by his standard) season in New York but he’ll get another crack at it this winter, still before age 30.

He’s building a pretty sturdy bridge.

“Everything matters and he really does take to that,” Hinch said. “He’s all in on everything with his preparation and his play. I know going to a new team, there’s always that desire to be the best version of yourself. We’re reaping the benefits of all that he does.”

DETROIT – What a comfort it must be, what a gift, for manager AJ Hinch to be able send Tarik Skubal to the mound every five days or so.

All the angst and frustration of three straight galling home losses to the Central Division rival Cleveland Guardians seemed to dissipate the minute No. 29 ran onto the field Sunday morning.

(Yes, morning. Game time was 11:30 a.m. to accommodate Roku.)

Skubal, the reigning American League Cy Young winner, struck out 13 and pitched his first career complete game, and the Tigers salvaged the finale of the series with a 5-0 win over the Guardians, before a crowd of 37,031 at Comerica Park.

The Guardians managed just two hits and Skubal’s 13 strikeouts matched his career high.

It was a masterful 94-pitch performance, reminiscent of his seven-inning gem against Texas on May 9. Like he did that day, Skubal set down the first 15 batters before giving up a lead-off hit in the sixth.

Josh Smith got him in the Texas game. It was third baseman Will Wilson who broke it up Sunday, driving a 97-mph sinker into the right-center gap for a double.

It was evident Skubal right out of the gate that Skubal had his A-stuff. He blew through the Guardians lineup in 25 pitches. He had a seven-pitch second inning and an eight-pitch third. The Guardians tried to bunt their way on — fail. They tried to attack early in counts — fail. They tried to sit on his off-speed pitches — fail.

They had no answer for him on this day.

He mixed the changeup off electric four-seam fastballs (97.9 mph average velocity) and sinkers (97.7 mph). His 71st and 72nd pitches were clocked at 100 and 101.7 mph. In the eighth inning he was throwing 90-mph changeups and 92-mph sliders.

Going into the ninth, he had 21 whiffs on 52 swings.

The Tigers offense all came in one big chunk.

After leaving the bases loaded in the second and stranding two more in the third, they batted around and chased lefty starter Logan Allen with a five-run fourth.

It was Zach McKinstry who broke the seal. He drove a 3-2 sweeper into the left-field seats, a two-run homer. Of his 28 career homers, that was just the second off a lefty.

It had a liberating effect on the Tigers’ hitters. Javier Baez and Gleyber Torres doubled. Andy Ibanez had an RBI single. He went to second on a throw to the plate and then aggressively scored on a throwing error by Allen on a tapper hit by Riley Greene.

Torres’ double marked the eighth straight time he reached base in the series.

DETROIT – Is it fair to wonder what the real Jack Flaherty looks like? He’s been, in turns, brilliant and baffling; not only this year, but over his last 20 regular-season starts.

His final 10 starts with the Dodgers last season (not counting the postseason) and his first 10 starts with the Tigers this season are very similar.

2024: 55.1 innings, 3.58 ERA, 1.283 WHIP, .729 opponent OPS, 26% strikeout rate, 8% walk rate.

2025: 53.1 innings, 4.39 ERA, 1.183 WHIP, .731 opponent OPS, 29% strikeout rate, 8% walk rate.

But within those numbers are some stellar starts: A 6.1-inning scoreless outing at Oakland in his Dodgers’ debut last year, 7.1 shutout innings against Cleveland last September.

This season, he punched out nine in 5.1 scoreless innings against the Yankees in April and posted quality starts against the Padres, and the Guardians in his most recent start.

The baseball card stats may not show it, but Flaherty keeps flashing the best version of himself, almost like a tease.

“It just comes down to executing pitches,” Flaherty said earlier this month. “If you make good pitches, you give yourself a chance. If you don’t make good pitches, these are the best hitters in the world. They’re going to make you pay.”

The flashes of brilliance have been coming more frequently in his last couple of outings.

His sixth and final inning in Toronto a week ago Friday, he punched out Jonatan Clase and Bo Bichette, carving them with knuckle-curves off firm, well-placed 94- and 95-mph four-seamers.

Against Vladimir Guerrero Jr., he got ahead 0-2 with 96 mph and 95.7 mph heaters. He followed that up with a 78-mph knuckle-curve literally on the plate that Guerrero topped 41 feet for a single.

But here’s a window into why his baseball card numbers seem a little gaudy: He got two strikes on lefty Daulton Varsho and put an 0-2 heater (95.7 mph) off the plate outside.

Somehow Varsho was able to redirect it into the left-field seats, leaving Flaherty with a bitter taste despite 5.2 strong innings of work.

His first inning against the Guardians Thursday seemed like an extension of that final inning in Toronto.

After getting Steven Kwan on a soft fly ball to left, he punched out Lane Thomas on four pitches (getting him on a 93.7 mph heater on the outer black) and Jose Ramirez on three pitches (knuckle-curve, changeup and a 95-mph heater painted on the outer black).

Again, he gave the Tigers a quality start (6.2 innings, three hits, three runs, eight strikeouts) and got an L on his ledger for his efforts.

“I feel like I’ve been going in the right direction the entire year,” Flaherty said. “Just, more mentally than anything, I have kind of talked myself into saying I wasn’t doing great. But I’ve been throwing the ball well.

“I’ve had a couple of rough innings but I still feel like I’m throwing the ball well. But there’s still another level to get to.”

His 2-6 record and 4.56 ERA suggests that it’s been a 10-start struggle for him and that’s not accurate. That he’s limiting hitters to a .225 average and .291 on-base percentage with a 1.181 WHIP argues against that narrative.

That he ranks third in the American League with 10.8 strikeouts per nine argues against it. That his knuckle-curve (.158 with a 47.4% whiff rate) and slider (.192 with a 33% whiff) have been mostly unhittable argues against it.

“We have a ton of belief in Jack,” manager AJ Hinch said. “Not just because of all the work he’s done, but because of what he brings to the table every day. What we saw in his fastball the last outing was encouraging. What we know he’s going to bring with the spin is really encouraging.

“When it comes to his attack plan, we have a ton of belief because he has a lot of options. He can go to a lot of different things and when he puts it all together, as he has so often in his career, he can put together some special games.”

That’s what Flaherty is working toward. Putting it all together. On Thursday, he was really good overall. But he didn’t have his usual pinpoint command of his knuckle-curve and had to navigate a lefty-heavy lineup with four-seamers, sliders and changeups.

And he made it work.

“I want to be able to take what I did in the first inning (Thursday) and try to do that in more innings,” Flaherty said. “The command got away from me a little bit at times and that hurt me.”

Case in point was the fourth inning. He walked Kyle Manzardo (even though he got squeezed on a couple of borderline pitches) and fell behind 3-1 to Carlos Santana.

Santana made him pay, rapping a two-run double.

“It comes down to execution,” Flaherty repeated.

True story. The run value on his four-seamer is minus-5. It was plus-6 last season. Hitters are slugging .589 on his four-seam and a big reason for that is he’s often having to throw the pitch in hitter-friendly counts.

Hitters have a .500 on-base percentage and .655 slug in three-ball counts against him. His 5% home run rate, a career-high, is also reflective of that.

It’s been one step forward and one step back for 20 starts. He will get the ball again against the Giants on Tuesday at Comerica Park and we can all wonder, will the real Jack Flaherty, please stand up.

An Eastern Illinois thing

They’ve come a long way. Back in 2021, Tigers’ shortstop Trey Sweeney and Giants right-hander Hayden Birdsong were toiling at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Ill., playing on frigid fields in front of a handful of fans, mostly parents.

On Monday, the two are expected to square off in front of 20,000-some fans at Comerica Park.

“It will be cool, just coming from where we came from,” Sweeney said. “It will be cool for us two, for sure, but obviously for everyone who is part of that school and the Eastern Illinois community.

“It’s kind of rare for that to happen at a smaller D-1 school. It’s going to be cool for everybody.”

Three Panther alums made their big-league debuts last season – Sweeney and Birdsong, also pitcher Will Klein with the Royals.

Back in 2021, Sweeney slashed .382/.522/.712 for the 25-23 Panthers. Birdsong was still a work in progress, going 0-5 with a 9.76 ERA.

“He looks a little different now,” Sweeney said with a smile. “He’s been looking pretty good.”

Yes he has. So much so, the Giants moved him to the rotation last week to replace Jordan Hicks. He bullied the Royals for five scoreless in his first big-league start.

“I can’t wait to see him,” Sweeney said. “Hopefully we can have breakfast one of those days and catch up.”

Giants at Tigers

Series: Three games at Comerica Park

First pitch: Monday – 1:10 p.m.; Tuesday – 6:40 p.m.; Wednesday – 1:10 p.m.

TV/radio: Monday-Wednesday – FanDuel Sports/97.1

Probables: Monday – RHP Hayden Birdsong (2-0, 1.91) vs. RHP Keider Montero (1-1, 5.28); Tuesday – RHP Logan Webb (5-4, 2.67) vs. RHP Jack Flaherty (2-6, 4.39); Wednesday – RHP Landen Roupp (3-3, 3.63) vs. RHP Jackson Jobe (4-1, 4.06).

Birdsong, Giants: Trey Sweeney’s teammate at Eastern Illinois in 2021 was moved into the rotation last week to replace Jordan Hicks and he pitched five scoreless innings against the Royals in his first start. He bullied the Royals mostly with a 98-mph heater. He also gets some swing-and-miss with a slider and changeup.

Montero, Tigers: The struggle for consistency remains real, evidenced by the high ERA, WHIP (1.565) and opponent OPS (.845). His strikeout rate is down (15%) and his walk rate is up (9.6%). Opponents are hitting .343 off his four-seamer and .346 off his slider with weighted on-base averages over .400 on each pitch.

DETROIT — Remember at the beginning of the month when the Tigers were scoring 10 runs or more seemingly every other game?

That was fun.

The end of the month is proving to be less fertile for the offense.

A sixth-inning solo home run by Spencer Torkelson was the only thing standing between the Tigers and back-to-back shutouts, as the Guardians beat them for a second straight night at Comerica Park, 3-1 on Friday.

It’s just the second time this month that they’ve lost back-to-back games and the second time all season they’ve lost two straight at home (both to the Texas Rangers).

The Tigers were held in check for six innings by right-hander Slade Cecconi, who was making his second start of the season after returning from an oblique injury.

He stranded runners in scoring position in four of those innings, before Torkelson launched his 13th homer, a 405-footer that cleared the bullpen in left.

The Tigers were 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position.

Right-hander Hunter Gaddis took over in the seventh inning and worked around a one-out double by Javier Baez and pitched a clean eighth inning.

The Guardians handed closer Emmanuel Clase a two-run lead in the ninth and there was no drama.

The Tigers (33-19) went into the game without two of their offensive leaders — Riley Greene and Zach McKinstry. Both are dealing with some soreness and were given the start off by manager AJ Hinch. Greene pinch hit in the eighth and struck out.

Another messy first inning for rookie Jackson Jobe had the Tigers playing uphill again. It also shortened his outing by an inning or two.

Steven Kwan led off the game with a double and scored on a triple to center field by Jose Ramirez. With two outs, Carlos Santana rolled a broken-bat single into left field to bring Ramirez home.

Jobe has allowed 10 runs in the first inning of his 10 starts this season, with opponents hitting .375 (15 for 40).

He allowed just one hit the rest of the way, though he had to navigate around two walks and a hit-batsman to keep the deficit at two through five innings.

Facing a lineup of eight left-handed hitters, Jobe effectively leaned on his change-up. He got seven whiffs on 11 swings at it and some soft-contact outs.

The Guardians did their damage against his upper-90s four-seamer. They put 11 fastballs in play with an average exit velocity of 91.5 mph, including Kwan’s double and Ramirez’s triple.

The Tigers bullpen kept it a one-run game through the eighth. Lefty Tyler Holton got five straight outs before giving up a single to Kwan. Righty Beau Brieske finished the seventh and left with two on and two outs in the eighth.

Righty Chase Lee, clutch, punched out Gabriel Arias to end that threat.

The Guardians tacked on the third run in the ninth. Right-fielder Kerry Carpenter misplayed a single by Bo Naylor into a triple and he scored on Kwan’s third hit of the game.

DETROIT — The smile told you everything you needed to know about how Matt Vierling was feeling Friday.

“It’s really good to be back,” he said. “Three months felt like three years.”

The Tigers inched a little closer to whole, activating infielder/outfielder Vierling from the injured list. He’d been out since early in spring training with a rotator cuff strain.

“Just seeing how well the boys have been doing, you just want to be part of it,” said Vierling, who was a vital contributor on the field and a steadying leader off it last season. “It makes you work even harder through the rehab.

“You are impatiently waiting, right? But you know there is patience to be had and you have to hit the checkpoints and everything like that.”

Vierling’s 21-day rehab allotment was winding down earlier this week and that timed out poorly with inclement weather at Toledo. So the Tigers, on Wednesday, sent Vierling and fellow rehabbers Parker Meadows and Wenceel Pérez to Low-A Lakeland so they could get a game in.

It was in that game that Vierling knew for certain he was ready.

Asked if he was confident he could make all the throws from every angle, he said, “That was the bigger question, right? When we flew to Lakeland due to the weather, I had nine plays in one game. So, yeah, I feel pretty damn confident (smiles).

“I know there’s going to be some growing pains with it. But I’m in a good spot.”

Vierling didn’t start Friday but manager AJ Hinch expected he’d use him at some point in the game.

“He’s going to play all over,” Hinch said. “I can’t really lay out how it’s exactly going to go. But he will get in there tonight and start (Saturday). We have to be aware that he’s coming off the injured list.”

The expectation is that Vierling will play both right and left field, as well as third base.

“We are getting closer and closer to being the very versatile team we were hoping to have,” Hinch said. “Our guys have done a really good job to date, but adding Matty to the mix is a pretty big upgrade.”

Vierling understands he’s jumping into a race that’s already a third of the way run. So he’s going to give himself a little grace early on.

“I’m going to treat it like it’s the beginning of the year,” he said. “Obviously it’s not. These guys have been playing for a while. But for me, it’s like, ‘Hey, I’m just getting back into the swing of things.’

“This is game one. I’m not going to be too hard on myself but I definitely want to get off on the right foot.”

More than anything, Vierling said he feels grateful.

“This is a privilege, that’s how I feel,” he said. “You go through all those rehab games and you kind of relive those minor league experiences again and you realize it’s really a privilege to be up here.

“And you realize, hey, it can be taken away pretty quickly.”

Horses down

The Tigers starting lineup Friday, against Cleveland right-hander Slade Cecconi, was absent two key left-handed hitters — Riley Greene and Zach McKinstry.

Call it preventative maintenance.

“Physically, we’re not in a great place, just being candid,” Hinch said. “We’ve got guys dealing with a lot of different things and we’ve got to balance short-term needs with that and the long-term needs of running this race.”

Neither player is injured and both were available off the bench.

“They’re all fine,” Hinch said. “McKinstry has played in almost every game the entire season and Riley always feels like he’s right on that edge of dealing with something. We’re just trying to be smart with what we are doing and what we are not.”

Alarm bells sounded for Hinch when second baseman Gleyber Torres came out of the game Thursday night with discomfort in his lower right leg.

“Just on how to handle these guys,” Hinch said. “How much to play them and where to play them. I’ve got to make judgement calls on whether they’re in a good place or not.

“Z-Mac needs a day. Riley needs a day. Sometimes it comes at a perfect time and sometimes it comes at a less than perfect time.”

Torres, by the way, checked out fine on Friday and was in the lineup as the designated hitter.

“We put him at the DH spot just to give him a little bit of a workload break,” Hinch said. “The doctors saw him and signed off on him being able to continue on. It was more of a scare than anything.

“No diagnosis is a good thing.”

Winter ball for Miggy?

As reported by Miami-based Venezuelan baseball writer Daniel Alvarez-Montes, Miguel Cabrera has been added to the active roster of the Tigres de Aragua winter league team.

Cabrera, 42, retired from the Tigers after the 2023 season. It’s been 17 years since he played for the Tigres in Venezuela.

“Miggy can do whatever he wants and he should be celebrated,” Hinch said. “I think for him to stay connected in the game is a true blessing, both to our organization, but also to the game globally.”

Cabrera is a special assistant to Tigers president Scott Harris. It’s unclear exactly how much Cabrera will actually play when the Venezuelan Winter League begins next October.

Mostly, it is expected to be ceremonial, a way for Cabrera to give back to and thank Venezuela baseball and its fans.

“I think it’s really cool that he recognizes his place in baseball history,” Hinch said. “And he’s willing to contribute so much in Venezuela and also here with the Tigers.”

Around the horn

To clear a spot on the active roster for Vierling, the Tigers optioned lefty reliever Sean Guenther back to Triple-A Toledo. Guenther had worked in nine games and allowed six earned runs in 10.1 innings.

… Right-hander Sawyer Gipson-Long, who has been out since late 2023 with hip and elbow surgeries, will make his fourth rehab start Saturday, his first at Triple-A Toledo.

… Meadows (nerve issue in his upper right arm) and Pérez (back) are also continuing their rehab assignments with Toledo.

… Catcher Tomas Nido, designated for assignment earlier in the week, has cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Toledo.

…The Mud Hens Friday released outfielder Ben Gamel.

TORONTO – In the dugout before the game Friday, manager AJ Hinch was asked about reliever Beau Brieske. Specifically, he was asked how close he thought Brieske might be to the reliever he relied on so often in leverage at the end of last season.

“I think he’s that guy now,” Hinch said. “I have not treated him any differently. We’re not trying to be something we used to be. Our pitch mix in the back end of the bullpen has been pretty good. It’s a tough back of the bullpen to crack.

“But I don’t see him any differently than I ever have. I trust him tonight to pitch in the ninth inning if we need him.”

Once again, Hinch can envision the ninth before the first pitch of the game is thrown.

Brieske, who hadn’t pitched in a save situation since March 28 in Los Angeles, was indeed summoned in the ninth inning to close out the Tigers’ 5-4 win over the Blue Jays.

Before the game, Hinch had told Will Vest that he was down for the night. He’d thrown three high-leverage innings, 50 pitches, in back-to-back wins against the Red Sox Tuesday and Wednesday.

“We took it out of Will’s hands,” Hinch said. “I’m sure he wanted to pitch. He was doing his normal routine to throw. But we have to see the long road, here. We ask a lot out of the pen. We have to make decisions going into games as much as we have to make decisions in games.”

It also served as a much-needed boost for Brieske, who has battled through an ankle injury since early in spring training and recently, like several Tigers, has been stricken with a flu bug.

“It’s been tough,” Brieske said before the game. “From trying to feel good and trying to pitch good, just a culmination of not feeling good about either. I’ve seen some glimpses, for sure.”

Before Friday, Brieske had pitched 5.1 innings in five outings since coming back off the injured list and allowed four runs, three earned and two home runs.

His outing Tuesday in the 11th inning against the Red Sox was a good illustration of what he’s been dealing with. Inheriting the free runner in a 7-7 game, he struck out Rafael Devers, freezing him with a changeup. He got Alex Bregman to fly out to left.

Then he threw a first-pitch sinker to Kristian Campbell, 97.1 mph dotted down and in.

“It was the exact pitch I wanted to throw,” Brieske said. “Most often, you make a good pitch, you know, you get your result. If he’d just got a base hit, a single, I would’ve been like, ‘That’s a good swing.’

“But that it went out of the park, it was like, ‘Wow, fantastic swing.’ But hey, it gave us the opportunity for our best win of the year (smiles).”

Brieske’s stuff was electric Friday night. His sinker hit 98 mph and sat 97 with an elite average spin rate of 2,587 rpm. His four-seam was zipping, too, 96-97 mph, 2,581 rpm.

His changeup, coming in at 91 mph, had 14 inches of horizonal movement.

But even with that, things got tense. He got the first two outs quickly, then Myles Straw dropped a sinking liner in front of a diving Javier Baez in center and Michael Stefanic lined a two-strike single to left.

He had to bat down a comebacker from pinch-hitter Ernie Clement to end the game.

“I need to zoom out and look at the bigger picture,” Brieske said before the game. “And not dwell on how things are right now. It’s been a little bit of a battle, just kind of fighting myself.

“Sometimes it’s bad execution. Sometimes I feel like I executed well and gotten beat.”

The full Beau Brieske, which was in full force during the Tigers’ run into the playoffs last season when he was escaping one tight mess after another, hasn’t been there yet in 2025.

But it’s coming.

“I don’t feel I’ve been at my best yet,” Brieske said. “It’s hard for me to say that. I just haven’t done the things that I know I can do, the things I have done in the past. I don’t feel I’ve been there yet.”

The ankle injury has been a straight-up nuisance for him. It was his right ankle on his drive leg off the mound. It happened early in spring and then he tweaked it again in Minnesota, which put him on the IL.

Then, when he came back from that, his energy got sapped with the flu.

“It’s part of a long baseball season, part of the ups and downs of a season,” he said. “It’s been frustrating. It’s been kind of an uphill battle for me physically.”

The ankle is healthy now; his mechanics, not so much.

“It’s getting to the point where I’m trying to get the bad habits out of my mechanics that I learned throwing and trying to compensate (for the ankle pain),” he said. “Now it’s about trying to get my feel back. I know what feels right, but it’s how consistent can I do it.

“That’s why I know it will come back. When I feel like myself and I’m executing at the level I can, with the stuff I have, eventually it’s going to even itself out.”

All in all, Brieske said, it’s been a pretty good perspective-builder for him.

“I was coming in from the offseason and man I was feeling so good,” he said. “I was moving exactly how I wanted, building on how I was throwing at the end of last year. And I came in and, there goes the ankle.”

That’s all in the rearview now, though. He’s pushed through the darkest parts.

“I don’t feel bad for myself, it’s just the hand I was dealt,” he said. “Like, what am I going to do? It’s not a pity party. No one feels bad for you. Can you get it done or not? Sometimes it’s not a perfectly clean transition. Sometimes it’s not a perfect process.

“What helps me is to zoom out and look at the bigger picture. What can I do to not worry so much about how things are going right now. It’s a long season.”

Getting the call in the ninth inning of a one-run game and getting the job done was a good kickstart.

DETROIT — Spencer Torkelson looked up in disbelief.

This was Wednesday and the Tigers had just scored double-digit runs against the Red Sox in the first two games of the series. It was mentioned to him that it was the sixth time this month they’d scored 10 or more runs and the month was only half over.

“Dang!” Torkelson said. “Wow.”

Indeed.

The Tigers hadn’t scored six double-digit runs in a month since 2016.

“We are definitely seeing it well up and down the lineup,” Torkelson said.

Entering the game Friday night in Toronto, only the Yankees (250) had scored more runs than the Tigers (244) in the American League. No Tigers team had scored 244 runs in the first 44 games in 31 years, since 1994.

“I think it comes down to the team approach that we talked about,” said Torkelson, who leads the team with 11 homers and 34 RBIs. “Get it to the next guy, grind out the at-bats. I feel like you can look at the Tanner Houck inning (nine runs), all the innings, you can look at the productive outs that were like seven- or eight-pitch at-bats.

“Yeah, it’s an 0-fer, but he just worked eight pitches for an out, now he gets to face Riley Greene.”

Or, case in point, Red Sox reliever Garrett Whitlock gets to face Javier Báez after an eight-pitch battle with Jace Jung that ended up with him hitting Jung in the foot.

“The first thing Javy said when he crossed the plate (after a three-run home run) was, ‘Good at-bat Jace,’” Torkelson said. “Javy gets that mistake because of Jace’s battle.

“We’re not going up as individuals, like, first pitch I see I’m trying to take it yard. We’re working counts.”

The Tigers aren’t conceding innings, either. The lead baseball scoring 104 runs with two outs. They have hit 17 two-out homers and have a .357 on-base percentage and an .808 OPS with runners in scoring position.

With two outs and runners in scoring position, they are slugging .505 with an .896 OPS.

“First of all, I think it goes back to our game-planning as a group and as individuals,” said Greene, who has 10 homers and an .823 OPS. “Our hitting coaches have us locked in.”

Greene singled out Michael Brdar, Keith Beauregard and Lance Zawadzki, the Tigers’ hitting department.

“There are times when I’ll be like, ‘Michael, tell me what to do, just tell me what to do and I’ll do it,’” Greene said. “There’s times when I will go to him and say, like, I don’t know what to do off this guy. And he will tell me and I will do it and I will get a hit.

“They have us prepared and I feel like they don’t get enough appreciation and I want them to. They are a big part of us.”

Greene also wishes someone would video their reactions in the dugout after the Tigers score some runs.

“They are more happy than we are when we score runs,” Greene said. “They’re hugging, jumping up and down. It’s like they’re at a club every time we score a run.”

Manager AJ Hinch has praised the work of his hitting coaches all season and Greene’s testimonial has to warm his heart.

“They have a tough job,” he said. “They never get to have a good day because no matter how many runs we score, somebody inevitably went hitless. Somebody needs their attention.”

Greene has been known to text one of the hitting coaches in the wee hours to run an adjustment idea past them. At least one of them responds every time.

“It’s not just them doing their jobs as hitting coaches, they’re great people, too,” he said. “They are here for us when we need them and they are here for a lot of the mental stuff, too.

“Props to everyone for trusting them and props to everyone, top to bottom, for buying into what we’re trying to do. Everyone just wants to win.”

Final hurdle?

Center fielder Parker Meadows was scheduled to throw to bases from the outfield before the game Saturday. That could be the last hurdle before he starts a rehab assignment.

“He doesn’t have to be fully back to 100% throwing to go on rehab assignment,” Hinch said before the game Friday. “But for his mind and for his readiness to go compete on a rehab level, tomorrow is very important.”

Meadows has been out since early in spring with a nerve issue in his upper right arm. Utility man Matt Vierling (shoulder) is close to wrapping up his rehab assignment at Triple-A Toledo.

It’s not official, but the way things are trending, Meadows could replace Vierling at Toledo after this weekend and Vierling could join the Tigers in St. Louis.

DETROIT — Casey Mize, off to the best start of his career, will have to hit pause.

Manager AJ Hinch announced before the game Saturday that Mize was placed on the 15-day injured list dating to Friday with a mild left hamstring strain.

“In his last inning in Colorado (Thursday), he felt a sensation or a tweak and everybody thought it was dehydration,” Hinch said. “Turns out, it was a little something (in the hamstring). It’s very mild but he probably wasn’t going to make his next start on Tuesday.

“That puts us in a tough spot with how long to carry the unknown.”

The Tigers called up reliever Chase Lee from Triple-A Toledo in the short-term. The club will list its starter for Tuesday as TBD for now, but Keider Montero, who went eight innings in Colorado in Game 2 Thursday, would be on track to pitch.

“It’s May,” Hinch said. “We’re certainly going to be careful with that. But we expect Casey to be fine in a short period of time.”

The worry is, Mize strained the same hamstring late last June and he ended up missing two months. It’s the same hamstring, but Hinch indicated it wasn’t the same type of strain.

Mize in his first seven starts has posted an MLB-best six wins with a 2.53 ERA, 1.008 WHIP, 21% strikeout rate and 5% walk rate.