Jack Flaherty, barely a few weeks back from an oblique tear that cost him more than two months of the season, left Tuesday's game abruptly with shoulder soreness.
Flaherty allowed back-to-back home runs to the Detroit Tigers on pitches that lacked his usual velocity.
That sent an alarm through the Cardinals dugout and brought a trainer to the mound almost as soon as Miguel Cabrera's 501st home run landed in Big Mac Land. Cabrera hit a four-seam fastball that was clocked at 88.7 mph, nearly six miles per hour off of Flaherty's usual speed. Earlier in the same inning, Robbie Grossman hit a slider for a home run.