Detroit Tigers ALDS Game 3 Recap and Review: The Tigers Struggle to Pitch, Hit, and Field

The Detroit Tigers had Jack Flaherty take the mound in Game 3 of the ALDS to face off against Logan Gilbert and the Seattle Mariners. Flaherty allowed one earned run in his start in the Wild Card series. Gilbert had a strong year for the Mariners, posting a 6-6 record with a 3.44 ERA. Against the Tigers this season, he allowed three earned runs in 10.1 innings of work. Gilbert managed to continue that success in the second postseason game of his career, while Flaherty did not.

Throughout the first two games of this series, the Tigers' pitching had held up well, allowing only five runs through 20 innings. The Tigers, however, only managed to score five runs. This series has been another low-scoring contest. Game 1 saw a 3-2 Tigers victory on a Zach McKinstry single in the eleventh. The Tigers, however, only mustered three hits in Game 2, and the Mariners tied the series up. Game 3 would require the Tigers to score more than two or three runs to win, which they were unable to do. The Mariners won 8-4, a final score that looked closer than the game actually was.

"Zach McKinstry (53370292960) (cropped)" by David from Washington, DC is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Detroit Tigers ALDS Game 3 Recap

Jack Flaherty started strong through two innings before a third-inning error by Riley Greene, aided by Zach McKinstry and Dillon Dingler. After three hits, a walk, and an error, Flaherty buckled down, holding the damage to two runs. Logan Gilbert gave up some contact, but cruised through the first three innings, nonetheless. It is of note that the Tigers reached three hits by the third inning, a mark that took them until the eighth inning in Game 2. However, as the Athletic's Cody Stavenhagen noted, Gilbert wasn't exactly throwing unhittable pitches.

Flaherty allowed a solo home run to Eugenio Suarez to start the fourth. Tommy Kahnle came in to try to clean things up. He gave up a hit, and the inning ended with a 4-0 Mariners lead. The Tigers have scored five or more runs three times since September 11. This early deficit put them in a tough spot. The Tigers managed to manufacture one run on a Kerry Carpenter fielder's choice.

Brant Hurter came in to pitch the fifth, allowing no hits or runs, before giving up a solo shot in the sixth. Keider Montero finished the inning before throwing a scoreless seventh. Montero gave up an unearned run in the eighth, following a Carpenter error. Gilbert pitched six innings of four-hit, one-run ball. Brenan Hanifee pitched the ninth for the Tigers, surrendering a two-run home run to Cal Raleigh. Matt Brash and Eduard Bazardo pitched scoreless seventh and eighth innings. Caleb Ferguson allowed three runs in the ninth before Dan Wilson turned to his closer, Andrés Muñoz. Before that, Spencer Torkelson knocked in a two-run double, and Andy Ibanez singled him in. Muñoz closed the door with a flyout followed by a double play on a lineout.

Detroit Tigers ALDS Game 3: Lack of Offense

The Tigers increased their hit total in this game from three to seven (three in the ninth). The Tigers struck out nine times and drew one walk. Despite the three-run ninth, the Tigers' offense let them down in this game by playing uncompetitive baseball for eight innings.

The Tigers' offensive struggles date back to the beginning of July, when they were the best team in the MLB. Regardless of the reason or the Tigers' trade deadline decisions, this offense has been objectively bad. Name a player who didn't struggle at the plate for a large portion of July, August, or September. No deadline additions were going to shake up the entire team's slump.

The reality is that adding Eugenio Suarez would not have prevented the second-half collapse, as many clout-chasing beat writers and podcasters will argue tomorrow. The Tigers struggled to hit and struck out a lot. Suarez did that, too. "But he hit home runs!" Yeah. So did Riley Greene. If you disagree with his "Nobody cares about the strikeouts" comments, then you didn't actually want Suarez. Greene struck out 59 times in his last 50 games. Suarez struck out 79 times in 53 games after joining the Mariners. Suarez hit 13 homers while Greene hit 10.

The approach at the plate plummeted as the struggles began. As the Tiges struggled to hit, they tried to hit for more power, expanding the strike zone. That led to more strikeouts. In turn, they tried to hit for more power, which started the cycle over again. The team fell into an unprecedented team-wide quagmire.

Those struggles continued into the postseason. Through six postseason games, the Tigers have struck out 68 times, walked 23 times, hit 13-57 (.228) with RISP, and left 48 runners on base. Obviously, those numbers make it difficult to win baseball games. Playoff baseball is hard, no doubt about it. There isn't an expectation to hit the cover off the ball, but the Tigers need to be better than this to succeed in the postseason.

Detroit Tigers ALDS Game 3: Pitching Struggles

A.J. Hinch has managed to hide the Tigers' lack of bullpen depth for most of the postseason. In Game 2 of the Wild Card series, the bullpen came apart in the eighth inning. In this game, it didn't take quite so long.

Today, Flaherty struggled, allowing four runs, and the bullpen didn't help him much after that. Kahnle and Hurter both allowed runs. K. Montero pitched well before Hanifee gave up two more in the ninth. The Tigers' three-run ninth will draw more attention to this group, but they should be reviewed in a vacuum. They didn't play well. Of course, some of the bullpen issues are due to injuries and overuse.

The Tigers' injuries and overuse can be traced back to the "pitching chaos" that got them into the postseason last year. Perhaps Scott Harris should have considered that and added better options to the bullpen.

Regardless, the Tigers have demanded perfection from this group, and today they were unable to achieve it. They allowed six earned runs and three home runs.

Detroit Tigers ALDS Game 3 Verdict

This game is an easy one to play, the "what if?" game, because of the errors. The Greene/McKinstry/Dingler combo in the third could have helped Flaherty through that inning quicker and without allowing any runs. That changes the whole course of the game. Then, Montero had an inning that saw another run get across due to a Carpenter error. That's three runs right there, but there's a reason that "what if?' is a fallacy. What if Greene, Carpenter, and Torkelson didn't combine for 0-10 through eight innings? The errors were costly, but so was the pitching, particularly the three home runs, not to mention the lack of offense.

The Tigers will need to find a way to put this game behind them before tomorrow's game. Casey Mize takes the mound, and he will need to be better than he was in his last outing in the postseason. Mize will likely need to turn back the clock to June of this year for the Tigers to win. The three-run ninth inning is hopefully a good sign, but the Tigers won't face an extra reliever in a no-leverage situation. They'll face the Mariners' best punch to close the series out.

The Gritty Tigs face elimination and an offseason full of questions if they lose tomorrow. Fair or unfair, they will be criticized, and people will shout about "wasting Skubal" in the same vein as Matthew Stafford, Calvin Johnson, and Barry Sanders of the Lions' past. If they want to postpone those questions, they'll need to play better in all facets of the game: pitching, fielding, and hitting. The bright side? If they can win tomorrow, they'll get a decisive Game 5 with Tarik Skubal on the mound.

(All stats provided by Baseball Reference)

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