Dodgers’ Jack Flaherty Weighed In On How Special Pitching at Home Was
In his home debut, Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Jack Flaherty earned a standing ovation when he exited in the sixth inning of Friday night’s 9-5 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Burbank native experienced a crowd of 48,664 fans at Dodger Stadium to reward him for his efforts.
Jack Flaherty talks about his performance and how special tonight was.
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“I don’t really know if there’s like words for it,” Flaherty told reporters. “Just excited, a lot of emotions, a lot of things going through my head. Going and warming up and everything, just tried to take it all in. Just a lot of fun. And then these guys came out and swung the bats tonight. Getting a lead like that, you know for me you just continue to go out and attack. J Hey (Jason Heyward) was great defensively, he made a couple of plays that were huge. Freddie (Freeman) getting up there, going 1-0 and just from there it just added on, never stopped.”
The 28-year-old posted 10 strikeouts in 110 pitches. Flaherty gave up four earned runs and nine hits through 5 and 2/3 innings. He kept the Pirates at bay with several big pitches, including a 95-mph fastball that retired former Dodgers catcher Yasmani Grandal with two on to close the fourth.
Though he received a standing ovation, the right-hander had hoped to finish his final inning on the mound.
“I think I was still pissed that I gave up the hit and I didn’t finish the inning,” Flaherty said. “But it was awesome, it’s a special feeling just being from here and having that moment.”
The former Detroit Tiger is now 2-0 for the Dodgers. His home debut on Friday night wasn’t as strong as his Dodgers debut on Aug. 3. Against the Oakland Athletics, Flaherty struck out seven batters through six scoreless innings, aiding Los Angeles to a 10-0 victory.
“It’s been good. There’s some things to clean up. I wanted to get through that sixth, be a little bit more efficient, but to do that the fourth and fifth got to be a little bit better.”
After facing power hitters like Shohei Ohtani and Teoscar Hernández on the hill, Flaherty reflected on what it meant to don the Dodger blue with them, rather than go up against them.
“Tough outs,” Flaherty said. “Tough guys to get out. You really got to execute your stuff and go out and do things so it’s nice to be on their side.”
Flaherty’s performance helped Los Angeles keep a 2.5-game lead in the National League West race over division rivals, the San Diego Padres.
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