Tigers blank – Riley Greene’s first-inning homer helped power a 3-0 Tigers shutout of the Rangers in Arlington, Texas, with Jack Flaherty delivering 5.2 scoreless innings and José Montero closing the door for the first regular-season save of his career.
When the Fourth of July lights should’ve been warming up at Globe Life Field. the Tigers chose something louder: a shutout. Dillon Dingler. Kevin McGonigle and Riley Greene were also named All-Stars for the game on July 14 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia—then Detroit went to work in Arlington. Texas. and beat the Rangers 3-0.
The story starts with the bounce-back on the mound. After allowing 10 runs in Thursday’s series-opening loss, Detroit needed a different shape to the day. Jack Flaherty had begun the season with an 0-7 record as a starting pitcher. but since returning from the IL he has been sharp. On June 28 against the Astros. Flaherty struck out nine batters and allowed two hits and no runs. even though Detroit eventually lost in extras.
Saturday’s outing was the kind that changes the temperature of a game early. Flaherty struck out five, allowed three hits, and pitched 5.2 innings of scoreless ball—his second win of the season.
“Jack was awesome today. I would even go back further than that. his three (starts) before going on the IL were really good. ” catcher Dillon Dingler said on Detroit SportsNet. “He’s just fine tuning some things we were able to keep them off balance and he pitched really deep in the game and put us in a great position.”.
Detroit’s offense made sure Flaherty didn’t have to carry everything. Riley Greene delivered the early spark: his homer stayed fair to right field. bringing home Kerry Carpenter for a two-run homer in the first inning. It was Greene’s 12th homer of the season and his third in the past four games. Greene finished 2-for-4 as the only Tiger with multiple hits.
“I think he’s just getting good pitches to hit,” manager AJ Hinch said on Detroit SportsNet. “He’s in every at-bat, they pitch him tough, they’re on the corners, and then when they make a mistake, he’s not missing it.”
The Rangers didn’t get a runner in scoring position until the sixth inning. A Josh Jung two-out double knocked Flaherty out of the game. Tyler Holton entered to face Brandon Ninmo and forced a ground-out to end the inning.
Detroit’s lead grew on opportunities that never fully turned into a bigger inning. Alejandro Osuna misplayed a flyball down the left-field line for an error. allowing Colt Keith and Zach McKinstry to go to third and second base. Ben Malgeri hit a grounder to bring Keith home. and the Tigers loaded the bases. but Carpenter hit a deep fly-out to end the top of the second inning.
By the time Rangers starter Cal Quantrill settled in, the game had already been decided. Quantrill needed just four pitches to get his first two outs. then it took 34 to get the next four outs as the Tigers built an early 3-0 lead. He didn’t allow another hit after the second inning. pitching five innings and allowing just three hits with two strikeouts.
The Tigers didn’t get much more after that burst. They had only three hits in the next seven innings, and none went for extra bases. Unlike their last game, Detroit didn’t rely on offense late—it needed strong relief.
That’s where the finish came from. Hinch said he had something up for Montero, and it showed in the seventh inning. Montero entered in relief for his third game coming out of the bullpen this season, and he made it count. Montero allowed no hits with only one walk in three innings to earn the first regular-season save of his career.
“I knew if he got in the game, in a close game, and he could keep his pitch count down, he was gonna go at least two (innings), and I wasn’t gonna take the ball away from him,” Hinch said.
“He was throwing the ball too well, he was very pitch efficient. We needed three more outs, Keider is as locked in as he’s been as a big leaguer, and he got us to the finish line.”
In the ninth, the Rangers tried to squeeze the last breath out of the contest. Montero almost allowed a hit to begin the bottom of the ninth as Josh Jung hit a liner to third base. but Keith made a great grab and got the throw to first in time for the first out. Montero then forced a deep flyout, followed a groundout to end an impressive relief stint.
“Keider is a great pitcher, great human being,” Dingler said. “He’ll do anything for this team, whether it be in the pen, whether it’s starting, you know exactly what you’re going to get, you’re gonna get everything he has, so you know I’m really excited for him.”
For all the swing moments—Green’s homer, Flaherty’s rebound, Montero’s clean innings—the result carried extra weight. The Tigers shut out the Rangers on a Fourth of July holiday. improved their season momentum by winning four out of their last five games against teams at the top of their respective division. and knocked the Rangers out of first place in the AL West.
The Tigers now sit with a 3-0 statement on the board—no matter how quiet the later innings became, they had already taken control early and never let it go.
BOX SCORE: Tigers 3, Rangers 0
Detroit Tigers Texas Rangers Riley Greene Jack Flaherty Jose Montero Dillon Dingler Kerry Carpenter Cal Quantrill Globe Life Field shutout
Flaherty being “scoreless” is wild, I guess Rangers forgot how to swing. Go Tigers.
So Montero gets his first save and everyone’s acting like it’s destiny lol. Also why mention the Fourth of July lights like that, did the stadium mess up?
Wait, if the article says Detroit named All-Stars July 14 in Philly, that already happened or is it later? I’m confused. Either way, 3-0 shutout sounds like the Rangers just folded after that first inning homer.
This is probably why I don’t watch baseball, it’s just random guys doing stuff and then they don’t. Greene homer in the first, Flaherty fixes his “0-7” thing, and then one save at the end… okay. Also Arlington Texas is basically always hot right? so the “louder” lights line feels like a weird excuse for why it got cold or something.