TAMPA (Interstat) — Jack Flaherty pitched five scoreless innings, Enmanuel De Jesus earned his first save with four shutout innings and the Detroit Tigers blasted the Tampa Bay Rays 8-0 on Tuesday night at George Steinbrenner Field.

Flaherty, who entered with a 1-7 record, struck out six while allowing five hits and no walks. He lowered his ERA with a dominant performance after struggling in his previous two starts, in which he gave up three earned runs each. De Jesus relieved him in the sixth and retired all 12 batters he faced, fanning four.

The Tigers jumped on Rays starter Steven Matz early. Gleyber Torres led off the game with a home run to center field, his third of the season. Matt Vierling followed with a triple, and Dillon Dingler brought him home with a sacrifice fly. That gave Detroit a 2-0 lead after the first inning.

Detroit added three more runs in the second. Spencer Torkelson doubled, and Wenceel Pérez followed with a two-run homer to left field. Later in the inning, Zack Short doubled and scored on a double by Vierling. The Tigers led 5-0.

Matz was pulled after two innings, charged with five earned runs on five hits. He fell to 4-3. The Rays bullpen held Detroit scoreless over the next three frames, but the Tigers struck again in the sixth.

Torkelson walked, Pérez singled and Zach McKinstry walked to load the bases. Short then lifted a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Torkelson. After an intentional walk to Torres, Vierling added another sacrifice fly to left, bringing home Pérez. The Tigers led 7-0.

Riley Greene padded the lead in the seventh inning with a solo home run to right field, his sixth of the season. That made it 8-0.

The Tampa Bay offense never threatened. The Rays managed five hits—all against Flaherty—but never advanced a runner past second base. Richie Palacios doubled in the second and Ryan Vilade doubled in the fourth, but both innings ended without a run. Tampa Bay stranded two runners in the third after a walk and a single, but Junior Caminero grounded into a forceout and Jonathan Aranda struck out.

Detroit’s defense backed the pitching staff with two double plays. Torres and Short turned a 4-6-3 twin killing in the sixth to erase a Yandy Díaz walk.

The win improved Detroit’s record to 24-38, while Tampa Bay dropped to 36-22. Attendance was 14,010, and the game lasted 2 hours, 29 minutes.

Key performances: Jack Flaherty (Detroit) – 5.0 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 6 K. Enmanuel De Jesus (Detroit) – 4.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 4 K, save (1). Matt Vierling (Detroit) – 2-for-4, triple, double, two RBIs, two sacrifice flies. Wenceel Pérez (Detroit) – 2-for-4, home run, two RBIs. Cam Booser (Tampa Bay) – 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 K. Casey Legumina (Tampa Bay) – 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 K. Ben Williamson (Tampa Bay) – 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER. Bryan Baker (Tampa Bay) – 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER. Gleyber Torres (Detroit) – 1-for-4, home run, one RBI. Zack Short (Detroit) – 2-for-3, double, one RBI, sacrifice fly.

The most pivotal stretch came in the first two innings, when Detroit scored five runs on five hits, including two home runs, to seize early control and force Tampa Bay into a deep deficit. The Tigers added three more runs in the sixth and seventh to put the game out of reach.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Tampa Bay Rays 5, Detroit Tigers 2. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Tampa Bay with a 60.60 percent probability to win. Tampa Bay had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -1.5. The total score of 8 went over the over/under line of 8.5.