DETROIT — Detroit Tigers right-hander Jack Flaherty tied an American League record with seven straight strikeouts to open a game against the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday and finished with a career-high 14 in 6⅔ innings.
The Cardinals rallied after Flaherty’s exit, scoring twice in the ninth inning for a 2-1 victory.
“It was nice to come out and be in sync from pitch one,” Flaherty said.
Miami Marlins right-hander Pablo Lopez set the major league record by striking out the first nine batters of a game in 2021.
Flaherty, facing one of his former teams, struck out the side over the first two innings and had one more strikeout to start the third inning with a mix of four-seam fastballs and knuckle-curveballs that kept the Cardinals flailing at pitches.
“He was on, and it was nasty,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “He had his stuff.”
Masyn Winn hit a groundout with one out in the third to end the strikeout streak, but Flaherty struck out the side in the fourth to raise his total to 12.
Flaherty, 28, matched the most strikeouts in the majors this season and the most for the Tigers since Max Scherzer had 14 against Pittsburgh in an eight-inning outing on Aug. 14, 2014. Flaherty gave up two hits and a walk in 6⅔ innings, exiting with Detroit leading 1-0.
“You could kind of feel it early on in the game,” Tigers catcher Carson Kelly said. “Actually before the game, he was on a mission.”
Detroit signed Flaherty to a $14 million, one-year contract, a deal that gives him a chance to earn an additional $1 million in bonuses.
He was fifth in NL Rookie of the Year voting in 2018 in St. Louis and finished fourth in Cy Young Award voting the following year with an 11-8 record and a 2.75 ERA for the Cardinals.
Kimbrel, 37, made his season debut Friday night and allowed one hit in a scoreless seventh inning in Atlanta’s 5-4 10-inning loss at San Francisco. The right-hander had one walk and one strikeout and threw 14 pitches.
Kimbrel, who began his career in Atlanta in 2010, was called up from Triple-A Gwinnett prior to Friday’s game against the Giants. He signed a minor league deal with the Braves in March.
Kimbrel led the National League in saves in four straight seasons with the Braves from 2011 to ’14.
He ranks fifth all time with 440 saves and has a 2.59 ERA in 838 career games (no starts) over 16 seasons with eight teams.
Atlanta recalled left-hander Austin Cox, 28, from Triple-A Gwinnett in a corresponding transaction. He last pitched in the majors with the Kansas City Royals in 2023.
ST. LOUIS — Tony Gonsolin was placed on the 15-day injured list Saturday by the Dodgers because of right elbow discomfort, joining fellow rotation members Tyler Glasnow, Roki Sasaki and Blake Snell among 14 Los Angeles pitchers on the IL.
NL West-leading Los Angeles activated relievers Kirby Yates from the 15-day IL and Michael Kopech from the 60-day IL before Saturday’s game against St. Louis and designated right-hander Chris Stratton for assignment, one day after he rejoined the team.
Gonsolin, a 31-year-old right-hander, made his season debut on April 30 after recovering from Tommy John surgery on Aug. 18, 2023, and was 3-2 with a 5.00 ERA in seven starts. He last pitched Wednesday in a 6-1 loss to the New York Mets, allowing three runs — two earned — three hits and three walks in five innings.
Kopech, a 29-year-old right-hander, had been sidelined since spring training with right shoulder impingement and had a 15.63 ERA in nine rehab appearances with Triple-A Oklahoma City from May 8 through last Sunday.
Yates, a 38-year-old right-hander, had been sidelined since May 17 because of a strained right hamstring. He is 3-2 with a 4.34 ERA in 22 relief appearances, striking out 31 and walking six in 18⅔ innings.
Stratton, 34, signed with the Dodgers on May 25, three days after he was released by Kansas City. He was designated for assignment on June 2, refused an outright assignment to Oklahoma City, then re-signed with the Dodgers a day later. He has made a pair of appearances for Los Angeles, totaling three innings.
PITTSBURGH — The scuffling Philadelphia Phillies suffered a blow Saturday when they placed first baseman Bryce Harper on the 10-day injured list because of right wrist inflammation before their game against the Pirates.
Harper sat out Friday night’s 5-4 loss to the Pirates, and the move is retroactive to Friday.
The two-time National League MVP and eight-time All-Star is hitting .258 with 9 home runs, 34 RBIs and 8 stolen bases in 57 games. He missed five games from May 26 to June 2 with a bruised right elbow after being hit by a pitch from Atlanta’s Spencer Strider.
The Phillies are expected to play third baseman Alec Bohm at first while Harper is out, with utility player Edmundo Sosa taking over at third.
The Phillies have lost seven of their last eight games, going from leading the NL East by two games to trailing the New York Mets by 2½ games entering Saturday. Philadelphia had won 11 of 12 games before the skid.
Infielder/outfielder Otto Kemp‘s contract was purchased from Triple-A Lehigh Valley. The 25-year-old, who has yet to play in the majors, was hitting .317 with 14 homers, 55 RBIs and 11 steals in 57 games at Triple-A.
Kemp was the International League Player of the Month in April.
The Phillies also recalled right-hander Daniel Robert from Lehigh Valley and optioned righty Alan Rangel. Rangel, 27, made his major league debut Friday night, allowing two runs in three innings of relief.
This will be Robert’s third stint of the season with the Phillies. The 30-year-old has given up one run in two-thirds of an inning over two games.