The two best teams in baseball met up over the weekend for a three-game series, and it did not disappoint. The Detroit Tigers and the Chicago Cubs came into the weekend with the two best records in the game, and Comerica Park in Detroit was packed all weekend. All three games were sellouts, and a total of 121,509 people came out to watch these two contenders battle it out during a beautiful weekend in the Motor City.
Game 1 of the series went to the Tigers on Friday, but the Cubs came back strong with a dominant win on Saturday. Detroit was able to get the job done on Sunday to pick up the series win, and it felt good for this team to get a big victory like that in front of a raucous crowd.
“It was a blessing to play in front of so many people and play against that team,” Right fielder Kerry Carpenter said Sunday, according to an article from MLB.com. “It was really fun to compete against them, match up and see how we do. We gave them our best, and it was fun to come out on top with a series win and show that we can beat good teams, too.”
Jack Flaherty got the start on the mound for the Tigers in Sunday’s rubber match, and he was outstanding. Flaherty lasted six innings and gave up zero runs, and he credited the Detroit crowd for the performance.
“It’s special,” Flaherty said. “It elevates our play, makes the games a lot of fun to be a part of. You just enjoy those moments.”
The Tigers won the game 4-0, but it wouldn’t have been a shutout without an outstanding play from Kerry Carpenter in the third inning. It looked the Cubs were going to get on the board on a base hit to right, but Carpenter threw out Ian Happ at the plate to help the Tigers get out of jam.
“I just lost my arm in space, I guess,” Flaherty said. “I was able to execute some pitches, I guess, when needed, but that throw was huge. I just lost it there in that inning. Whatever happened, I was able to regroup.”
Jack Flaherty has been on fire during his last few starts, and it hasn’t been a surprise to Cubs catcher Carson Kelly. Kelly has caught Flaherty on two different teams as he played for the Tigers last season, and he also used to play with Flaherty on the St. Louis Cardinals.
“I’ve obviously seen him for a long time,” Carson Kelly said. “I’ve seen him when he’s doing stuff like he did today, and I’ve also seen him when it’s not so good. Today, you could just tell that the flow of the game, the way he was handling himself, he was executing and locating. And when he’s doing that, he’s a very tough at-bat.”
The Tigers needed Flaherty to pitch a good game on Sunday, and they got more than they could’ve asked for. This was a huge series win after Detroit split a four-game series with the Chicago White Sox, who are one of the worst teams in baseball.
“Chicago (White Sox) might have been a little bit of a wakeup call for us,” catcher Dillon Dingler said. “I know we didn’t address it like that, but we knew that we underperformed against those guys. So having a good team come in and making sure we focus on doing the little things, I was glad we were able to take care of business.”
Following the series victory over the Cubs, the Tigers still have the best record in baseball at 43-24.
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