Detroit Tigers score: Jack Flaherty opened with four scoreless innings before surrendering five runs on six hits in the 5th inning of a 9-6 loss.
CHICAGO — The bottom of the fifth inning started with a ball in play that should've been caught by second baseman Gleyber Torres.
But he mistimed his jump and the line drive tipped off his glove and carried into right field for a leadoff single.
From there, the Detroit Tigers and right-hander Jack Flaherty fell apart against the Chicago White Sox.
The Tigers lost, 9-6, to the White Sox on Tuesday, Aug. 12, at Rate Field, with the White Sox scoring five runs in the fifth inning on six hits and two walks.
All six hits were singles, but only two of them were hit hard.
Flaherty allowed five runs on eight hits and one walk with six strikeouts across 4⅓ innings, throwing 86 pitches. The 29-year-old has been responsible for five earned runs in each of his past two starts, failing to reach five innings in both.
He owns a 4.76 ERA in 24 starts.
The Tigers (69-52) were haunted by Flaherty allowing four singles in a row — and six singles to the first seven batters — in the fifth inning. The six singles, including the first five with two strikes, belonged to: Kyle Teel, Edgar Quero, Curtis Mead, Mike Tauchman, Colson Montgomery and Luis Robert Jr.
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The White Sox tied the game, 1-1, on Mead's bloop single, took a 3-1 lead on Montgomery's hard-hit single and increased their advantage to 4-1 on Robert's soft single.
Flaherty threw four curveballs in a row to Montgomery.
The first two singles from Teel and Quero could've been caught.
After Torres missed Teel's line drive, center fielder Wenceel Pérez made a diving attempt on Quero's fly ball, but although the ball touched his glove, he failed to make the catch. The ensuing RBI single from Mead for a 1-1 tie had a 65.7 mph exit velocity.
Flaherty needed 34 pitches to get one out in the fifth inning, leaving runners on the corners for left-handed reliever Brant Hurter, who walked two batters.
The White Sox made it 5-1 when Teel worked a bases-loaded walk on six pitches.
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Luis Robert Jr. helps Dillon Dingler
The Tigers nearly mounted a comeback in the seventh inning.
Dillon Dingler hit a fly ball to center field that likely would've hit off the top of the wall, but Robert — playing center field — tipped the ball over the fence when he tried to catch the ball, resulting in a two-run home run.
The Dingler home cut the Tigers' deficit to 6-3.
The Tigers failed to add more runs.
There were runners on the corners with one out when Jahmai Jones — who pinch-hit for slugger Kerry Carpenter in the sixth — popped out and Riley Greene grounded into a force out to short, with a slow-to-move Torres out at second base.
Right-handed reliever Codi Heuer, whom the Tigers acquired from the Texas Rangers at the trade deadline and recently called up from Triple-A Toledo, surrendered a solo home run to Edgar Quero in the seventh inning, making it 7-3 White Sox.
Late runs for both teams
Right-handed reliever Tommy Kahnle, signed by the Tigers on a one-year, $7.5 million deal in free agency, gave up two runs in the eighth inning, as a single by Quero put the White Sox ahead, 9-3.
Kahnle owns a 5.21 ERA in 49 relief appearances this season.
In the ninth inning, the Tigers were down to their final three outs when Colt Keith opened the door to another comeback opportunity, albeit one that ultimately fell short. He trimmed the deficit to 9-6 with a three-run home run.
Keith crushed a sinker from right-handed reliever Mike Vasil at the top of the strike zone.
It was his 10th homer in 107 games this season.
Scoring first
The Tigers took a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning as Carpenter was hit by a pitch, Greene ripped a double, and Pérez provided a one-out sacrifice fly.
Right-hander Yoendrys Gómez, making the first start of his MLB career, and 19th appearance, allowed one run on one hit and one walk with seven strikeouts across five innings, throwing 89 pitches.
Gómez entered Tuesday's game with a 6.62 ERA in 12 games for the White Sox in 2025, but he dominated the Tigers.
Contact Evan Petzold at [email protected] or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers stung by singles in 9-6 loss to Chicago White Sox
Category: Baseball
