Defense dooms Jack Flaherty as Detroit Tigers swept by Boston Red Sox

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Flaherty could've kept the Red Sox from scoring, but three defensive mistakes hurt him: two from third baseman Colt Keith and one from first baseman Spencer Torkelson.

He struck out the first five batters (and retired the first six batters).

It went downhill from there.

In the third, Keith failed to field a grounder that deflected off his glove for a leadoff single, then after a hit-by-pitch, Torkelson failed to catch a foul ball that touched his glove. On the next pitch, Caleb Durbin ripped Flaherty's up-and-in fastball for an RBI double down the third-base line and into the left-field corner, providing a 1-0 lead for the Red Sox.

The next batter grounded out.

It would've been the third out of the third inning had Keith and Torkelson recorded outs. Instead, Willson Contreras delivered a sacrifice fly, making it 2-0 Red Sox.

The same problem occurred in the fourth inning, when the Red Sox had two outs, two strikes and two runners on with Carlos Narváez at the plate against Flaherty.

This time, though, the recurring issue was charged as an error by the official scorer.

Flaherty got exactly what he needed with a sixth-pitch curveball at the bottom of the strike zone for a routine grounder to third base, only Keith failed to field the ball – letting it roll between his legs and into left field.

Two runs scored on Keith's big mistake.

That's how the Red Sox took a 4-0 lead.

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On offense

The Tigers were shut down by four pitchers.

It started with right-hander Sonny Gray, who completed five scoreless innings on four hits and two walks with two strikeouts. His workload was limited to 70 pitches in his return from a right hamstring strain, especially since he didn't participate in a rehab assignment.

The four hits: Riley Greene doubled in the second inning and Matt Vierling, Keith and Greene singled in the third inning.

The Tigers stranded the bases loaded with Jace Jung's lineout in the second, then stranded runners on first and second base with Dillon Dingler's flyout in the third.

The other three pitchers: left-handed reliever Tyler Samaniego completed two scoreless innings in the sixth and seventh, right-handed reliever Zack Kelly delivered a scoreless eighth and right-handed reliever Greg Weissert ended the game with a scoreless ninth.

The Tigers were limited to four hits.

All of them were against Gray in a two-inning stretch.

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers score: Jack Flaherty doomed by defense in Red Sox loss