FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Detroit Tigers lost to the Boston Red Sox, 5-2, on Thursday at JetBlue Park at Fenway South in Fort Myers, Florida.

The Tigers have a 3-3-1 record in Grapefruit League play.

What happened

Right-hander Reese Olson is in the early stages of his push for a spot in the Opening Day starting rotation. He took a step forward against the Red Sox in his second start, bouncing back from a rough first start. The 24-year-old allowed two runs on four hits and zero walks with three strikeouts across two innings, throwing 42 pitches.

All four hits were against fastballs.

"I feel way better about today," Olson said. "I was way better in the zone, commanding pretty much everything the way I wanted to. Maybe I can get those four-seams to a better spot later in counts, but for the most part, I felt good about it."

The Red Sox took a 2-0 lead in the first inning, beginning with three consecutive hits from Tyler O'Neill (single), Rafael Devers (single) and Trevor Story (double). Olson responded by retiring the next three batters in the first inning with weak contact, then he struck out three of four batters in the second inning.

"It's about execution," Olson said. "That's what I'm trying to continue to improve on."

Starting off

Olson needed 24 pitches to get through the first inning.

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He also needed 18 pitches to complete the second inning, but his second frame wasn't as stressful. He struck out Roberto Pérez (95 mph sinker), Niko Kavadas (86 mph slider) and O'Neill (87 mph changeup), working around a one-out single from prospect Roman Anthony.

Olson struck out Pérez, a right-handed hitter, with a sinker on the outside part of the plate.

"I'm really trying to hammer it glove side," Olson said of his sinker, which he used 19.8% of the time last season. "Last year, it was pretty much arm-side only. Being able to get it to my glove side is big, like the one I struck him out with."

Olson gave up two runs across 1⅔ innings to the New York Yankees in his first spring training start, and although he allowed two runs across two innings to the Red Sox in his second start, it was a positive development because of his improved strike-throwing.

"He was better," manager A.J. Hinch said. "He had to battle through a few things, but I do think it was a step forward. Part of me likes when they have to pitch through a little bit of stress, and I liked how he finished. It was a lot of pitches for two innings, but finishing under stress with some punchouts was good to see."

At the plate

Right-hander Garrett Whitlock, who has pitched 99 games in his MLB career, tossed three innings of one-run ball against the Tigers with zero walks and six strikeouts.

He retired the first three batters of the game: Akil Baddoo (strikeout), Ryan Kreidler (groundout) and Andy Ibáñez (strikeout). He also struck out Jace Jung and Ryan Vilade in the second inning, followed by a strikeout of TJ Hopkins in the third inning.

In the third, the Tigers tallied three consecutive two-out singles from Anthony Bemboom, Baddoo and Kreidler. The single from Kreidler, still facing Whitlock, put the Tigers on the scoreboard, trailing 2-1.

After Whitlock, the Tigers collected just five hits against a combined five pitchers out of the bullpen. Ibáñez flew out in the fifth inning to strand the bases loaded.

In the ninth inning, Trei Cruz ripped a two-out single off left-handed reliever Brendan Cellucci to drive in the Tigers' second and final run of the game.

The Tigers finished 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position.

On the mound

Left-handed reliever Tyler Holton, who replaced Olson, gave up a solo home run to Devers, but he bounced back by retiring the next three batters in the third inning. Right-hander Will Vest allowed two runs on three singles and one walk, replaced with two outs in the fourth inning.

Left-hander Adam Wolf, from minor-league camp, inherited the bases loaded and walked Story to put the Tigers behind, 5-1. He escaped further trouble by getting the next batter to ground into a force out.

The highlight of the relievers was right-hander Wilmer Flores, who hit 99 mph on the radar gun once again. Flores struggled to throw strikes with his secondary pitches in his first spring training appearance, but he was lights out in his second outing.

MORE ABOUT FLORES: Tigers prospect Wilmer Flores throws 99.9 mph, seeks to be 'power pitcher' again

Flores had three strikeouts in two innings, without a walk. His fastball topped out at 98.9 mph.

"He's got really good stuff," Hinch said. "He's starting to learn about different aspects of pitching that are important, beyond stuff. He held runners. He was quicker to the plate. He was more efficient with his pitches. He threw some finish fastballs for some misses. The breaking balls were either in the zone or near misses, a lot less wasteful pitches. A lot to like with him and his learning.'

Flores struck out Rob Refsnyder swinging with a 99 mph fastball for the first out in the fifth inning, then O'Neill and Matthew Lugo — both swinging — for the second and third outs in the sixth inning. Lugo, the nephew of Carlos Beltrán and the No. 69 overall pick in the 2019 draft, checked his swing on his strikeout, an indication of a nasty pitch. It was a 98.5 mph fastball from Flores.

Left-hander Brant Hurter, another pitching prospect on the rise, tossed two scoreless innings — covering the seventh and eighth frames — with one walk and two strikeouts.

Three stars

1. Flores, 2. Olson, 3. Kreidler.

Next up

Friday (1:05 p.m.) vs. Philadelphia Phillies in Lakeland.

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

Listen to our weekly Tigers show "Days of Roar" every Monday afternoon on demand at freep.com, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at freep.com/podcasts.

Next up: Phillies

Matchup: Tigers (3-3) vs. Philadelphia (2-1), Grapefruit League exhibition.

First pitch: 1:05 p.m. Friday; Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium, Lakeland, Florida.

TV/radio: No TV; WXYT-AM (1270).

Probable pitchers: Tigers — RHP Kenta Maeda (6-8, 4.23 ERA in 2023); Phillies — LHP Ranger Suárez (4-6, 4.18 ERA in 2023).

Opening Day: At Chicago White Sox; 4:10 p.m. March 28; Bally Sports Detroit.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers' Reese Olson gets back on track in 5-2 loss to Red Sox