Flaherty had a perfect game until the fifth inning.
And the veteran right-hander dominated against the Blue Jays until his final pitch with two strikes and two outs in the sixth inning.
“He was really good,” Hinch said. “It’s unfortunate that the outing ended like that, but it’s hard to say it wasn’t a good outing considering all the swings and misses and five scoreless runs before the last swing of his outing. We’ll take that to heart every time.”
A big hit by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. spoiled the final line of a brilliant performance by Flaherty, who allowed two runs on three hits and a walk with eight strikeouts in 5⅔ innings. His 98th and final pitch landed in the left-field stands.