Andrew Graham gives his quick takes on the Tigers’ 7-5 loss to the Astros on Sunday:
One thing I loved
Those first three innings from Jack Flaherty were stellar. It hardly looked like he was making a rehab start five days prior.
Through the first nine outs, Flaherty faced just 11 hitters and recorded six strikeouts. And he did it in myriad ways, getting a pair of punchouts each with his fastball, slider and knuckle curveball. The whole arsenal seemed to be working, and it made quick work of Houston’s lineup at the start.
Flaherty walked the ever-dangerous Yordan Alvarez in the first inning with one out, which was no trouble as he got a lineout to center field and a strikeout to follow. He then put down the Astros in order in the second. Flaherty finally faced trouble in the third, giving up his first hit, a leadoff double by Jake Meyers that squeaked past Kevin McGonigle down the left-field line.
And when Meyers advanced to third base on a passed ball, Flaherty had little margin to record the next three outs.
And what did he do? Punch out Raynel Delgado and Jeremy Peña back-to-back before getting Alvarez — who entered Sunday batting .314 with 25 home runs — to pop out to shallow left field. That earned a big cheer from the Comerica Park crowd as Flaherty and the Tigers hustled back into the dugout.
Hell, even when he faced some trouble in the fourth inning, loading the bases with two outs, he came up with a clutch strikeout to quell the threat.
It was a great way to begin Flaherty’s return to the rotation, and I’m sure the Tigers loved to see it, too.
Quite the return for Jack Flaherty:
5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 9 K
94 pitches, 57 strikes
16 whiffs on 48 swings, 6 on sliders, 5 on curves
5 called strikes, 5 whiffs on 4-seamer, which averaged 93.7 mph pic.twitter.com/z2k0cRZDJv— Jason Beck (@beckjason) June 28, 2026
Oh, and as a bonus, check out Riley Greene’s slick sliding catch in foul territory with the fence fast approaching to get the third out in the second inning.
Second time in as many days that Greene’s made a big, highlight play in left.
Riley makes it look easy! pic.twitter.com/Ueels4wTpi
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) June 28, 2026
One thing I didn’t
I’ll join the list of people who can’t quite square the decision to move Enmanuel De Jesus down to Toledo — to make room for Flaherty on the roster — with the fact De Jesus has been one of, if not the best bullpen arm for Detroit of late.
The main stat for his continued inclusion with the Tigers is that De Jesus has pitched 13 consecutive scoreless innings prior to Detroit optioning him to Toledo on Sunday.
Now, part of the reason to option De Jesus is that he has remaining options in his contract so this move doesn’t cut off some future flexibility. And prior to the game Sunday, Hinch said a move was coming but conversations still needed to happen between him and players, a prelude that a perhaps unorthodox or particularly thorny move was coming.
And everyone involved is a pro, will handle their business, and it’s more than likely De Jesus is back in Detroit rather soon. But man, it’s just hard to send down what’s been such a reliable arm in the bullpen.
And evidently, I am not the only one who feels this way.
I can’t take this team seriously anymore.
Emmanuel De Jesus has been a Top-3 bullpen arm for us and our best lefty out of the pen
WHY ARE WE SENDING HIM DOWN??? https://t.co/6mzLO63DUD
— ClarkisKing (@clarkisking1) June 28, 2026
Going the distance … and then some
The Tigers are now 1-6 in extra-inning games
- April 17: Lost at Red Sox, 1-0, in 10 innings
- May 13: Lost at Mets, 3-2, in 10 innings
- May 16: Lost to Blue Jays, 2-1, in 10 innings
- May 21: Lost to Guardians, 3-2, in 10 innings
- May 29: Lost to White Sox, 4-3, in 10 innings
- June 21: Defeated White Sox, 5-4, in 10 innings
- June 28: Lost to Astros, 7-3, in 10 innings
Three stars
(Season total in parentheses)
▶ Zach McKinstry (4)
▶ Raynel Delgado
▶ Jack Flaherty (3)
Player of the game
(season total in parenthesis)
▶ Isaac Paredes
Next Tigers game
▶ Game 85: Tigers at Yankees, 7:05 p.m. Monday, Detroit SportsNet, 97.1
ICYMI: Yesterday’s Tigers recap
Andrew Graham is a freelance writer
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Detroit Tigers, Game 84: One thing I loved, one thing I didn’t
