Jack Flaherty ties AL record with electric start for Tigers

Tigers starter Jack Flaherty struck out the first batter he faced in Tuesday's game against the Cardinals. And the second and third. And the fourth, fifth and sixth.

By the time he whiffed Nolan Gorman to lead off the third inning, Flaherty had tied an American League with record with seven straight strikeouts to start a game. The next batter grounded out to short, leaving Flaherty two strikeouts shy of the MLB record held by Pablo Lopez.

Only four other American League pitchers have matched Flaherty's feat: Joe Cowley of the White Sox in 1986, Carlos Rodon of the White Sox in 2016, Blake Snell of the Rays in 2018 and Luis Castillo of the Mariners in 2022.

Flaherty was mixing his pitchers masterfully to start Tuesday's game, getting 10 swings and misses from the first seven batters and recording strikeouts with his fastball, slider and knucklecurve. He also used a sinker and a change.

And the strikeouts didn't stop after the streak was halted. Flaherty got six more in the fourth, fifth and six innings to match his career high of 13, which he accomplished twice in 2018 when he was an emerging young pitcher with the Cardinals.

Flaherty is off to a strong start with the Tigers after signing a one-year deal with the club in the offseason. His 49 strikeouts, and counting, are most in the AL and second most in the bigs.