Flaherty shows rare emotion in strong outing to top Yanks

NEW YORK -- Jack Flaherty rarely shows much emotion on the mound, at least this season. When he has, it has usually been a muted frustration at his misfortunes of his own pitching, or a general body language that reflects his assessment of his pitches.

So when Flaherty fanned Jose Caballero on his 99th and final pitch of the Tigers' 11-1 win over the Yankees on Wednesday and subtly pumped his fist before walking back to the dugout, it stood out. He had just fanned the Yankees in order after Gleyber Torres’ two-run single in the top of the inning had given him his first lead of the night. It was an emphatic shutdown inning and an exclamation point on his best outing in three weeks.

But for Flaherty, the reaction was more than that.

“There was just a lot of emotion in everything, from the way that the year has gone,” Flaherty said, “and trying to carry some of that emotion.”

That emotion carried Flaherty through his between-starts work as he tried to find a solution to his fastball struggles and his inconsistency, rarely following a good start with another one. He was due for some good fortune from his recent pattern of good start after bad, but this felt bigger than that. This was Flaherty pitching like the front-line starter the Tigers had brought back in February, or the clutch performer that helped the Dodgers lift the World Series trophy when he last pitched here last October.

He would’ve liked to have pitched deeper than five innings for his 99 pitches, but by holding the Yankees scoreless, he kept the Tigers in a pitchers' duel long enough to get a couple runs on Carlos Rodón. Detroit ran away from there.

The Tigers have turned this potential postseason preview into a runaway, outscoring the Yankees by a combined 23-3 margin. They clinched the season series against the Yanks for the first time since 2011. They also moved back in front in the chase for the American League’s best record and top seed after the Blue Jays lost to the Astros.

More important for the Tigers, they’ve gotten consecutive solid outings from two candidates to start a potential playoff series Game 2 after Tarik Skubal. One night after Casey Mize held the Yankees to a pair of solo homers, Flaherty topped that by holding New York to a Trent Grisham leadoff single and a Ryan McMahon third-inning double. Not only was his fastball up a tick in velocity, it was accurate, drawing 13 called strikes, including one to punch out Aaron Judge after Grisham’s single in the first and back-to-back third strikes on Giancarlo Stanton and Jazz Chisholm Jr. in the second inning.

“He had a really good fastball,” manager A.J. Hinch said, “and he had really good secondary pitches, and he had a great focus pitch by pitch. And he needed it, because of how much they pressured him. He was in some big moments.”

None were bigger than the third inning, when McMahon’s double and Grisham’s 10-pitch walk put runners at first and second with one out for Judge. Flaherty fell behind on a 3-1 count, missing the outside corner with back-to-back fastballs, but executed a slider on the corner that Judge hit on the ground. It was well struck, but right at shortstop Javier Báez, who handled a lively hop and started an inning-ending double play.

“Keep fighting,” Flaherty said was his mindset. “Overall it hasn’t been the year I’ve wanted for myself, for this team, for this city, but all I wanted to do at this point was keep fighting and keep competing, keep giving us as good a chance as I can.

“I’m just going to keep giving everything that I have every day in between [starts] and every day going forward.”

That’s the type of fight the Tigers need in a postseason starter. They know they have it in Skubal. They’ve seen good signs of it the last couple of nights from their other guys.

Add in an April 9 no-decision at Comerica Park, and Flaherty has tossed 10 1/3 scoreless innings this season against the Yankees, who reportedly passed up an opportunity to trade for him at last year’s Trade Deadline due to health concerns.

The way the postseason picture is coming together, Flaherty could get another to remind the Yankees what they missed. He could also give the Tigers the big-game performance they bought into when they signed on for a reunion last winter.