Series Recap: Detroit Tigers vs. St. Louis Cardinals, AL Central Standings

The Tigers scored their lone run in the 4th inning courtesy of a solo blast from the red-hot Riley Greene. It gave Detroit a 1-0 lead.

It was Greene’s 6th home run of the season, but it wouldn’t be his last of the day…

Flaherty’s career day ended after 6⅔ innings. He collected a career-high 14 strikeouts and allowed just two hits as he shut out the team he started his MLB career with.

The Tigers bullpen maintained the lead until disaster struck in the 9th. After tying the game, the Cardinals took the lead late with a sacrifice fly to make it 2-1 in favor of the road team.

The Tigers couldn’t respond in the bottom of the 9th as they wasted a masterful outing from Flaherty and fell short 2-1 in game one.

Game 2:

It was Matt Manning serving as the 27th man in game two of the doubleheader facing southpaw Steven Matz.

The Tigers didn’t wait too long to get on the board in game two, and the first run once again was courtesy of Riley Greene.

Tork followed it up by grounding out, but it brought home a run, making it 2-0 Detroit.

Get used to hearing his name because Wenceel Pérez is here to stay. He has been one of the Tigers best hitters since joining the big league club. In the 2nd inning, Pérez made it 3-0 Tigers with his second career home run.

Detroit kept the RBI train rolling in the 3rd inning with a Mark Canha RBI double that scored Andy Ibanez in his return from the injured list.

Manning pitched four scoreless innings before things went haywire in the 5th. Brendan Donovan got it started with a two-run homer to cut the lead in half, but the big blow came from Alec Burleson, whose three-run blast helped the Cardinals jump all over the Tigers. St. Louis took a 5-4 lead, their first lead of game two.

The Tigers wasted no time tying the game back up in the home half of the 5th and they took the lead back when Wenceel Pérez became the first Detroit Tiger to homer from both sides of the plate in the same game since Victor Martinez did it in August of 2018.

Pérez’s third career homer and second of the nightcap gave Detroit a 7-5 lead.

A Burleson single in the top of the 7th made it a 7-6 ballgame, but the Tigers pulled away in the 7th inning stretch as they put four more runs on the board. It started with Riley Greene’s second home run of the game.

Jake Rogers contributed with an RBI double to left field that plated Spencer Torkelson. That gave Detroit a 9-6 lead.

They added two more runs with an RBI bases-loaded walk for Parker Meadows and a sac-fly for Kerry Carpenter. It was the last runs of the game, and the Tigers would split the doubleheader with an 11-6 victory in the nightcap.

Game 3:

Kenta Maeda was on the mound for Detroit and Miles Mikolas got the ball for St. Louis in the series finale.

The Tigers drew first blood with an RBI double from Colt Keith in the 2nd inning that gave them a 1-0 lead.

Matt Vierling flexed his muscle to extend the lead to 3-0 Tigers with his third long ball of 2024.

Wilson Contreras got the Cards on the board with his fifth home run of the season in the 4th inning and he reached double digits in the RBI category as he collected his 10th of the season.

Maeda pitched two more scoreless innings after giving up the home run to Contreras, and the Tigers then went to their bullpen after the veteran right-hander’s outing ended after six innings of work.

The final run of the ball game was scored in the 8th inning. Matt Vierling provided some insurance when he brought home Wenceel Pérez on a sac fly.

Alex Lange recorded the save as the Tigers won the series with a 4-1 victory in the finale on Wednesday.

AL Central Standings:

1. Cleveland Guardians: 20-10
2. Kansas City Royals: 19-13
3. Detroit Tigers: 18-13
4. Minnesota Twins: 17-13
5. Chicago White Sox: 6-25