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Jack Flaherty just doesn’t seem to get it, and if he hasn’t figured it out by now, it’s probably safe to assume he won’t.

The postseason spotlight found the former Cardinals pitcher in Game 2 of the National League Division Series between the World Series favorite Dodgers and their scrappy challengers, Mike Shildt’s San Diego Padres.

Flaherty had plenty of pith and vinegar. He almost always does. Problem was, he got out-pitched, and then probably made things worse for his team by sparking the Padres’ two biggest superstars.

Flaherty on Sunday was pounced upon by Fernando Tatis Jr. for a first-inning home run, then surrendered another to David Peralta in the second and wound up giving up four earned in 5â…“ innings. Terrible, he was not. But Padres starter Yu Darvish was a lot better, bottling up the dangerous Dodgers lineup for one run through seven innings.

A lot of guys don’t stack up well to Darvish when he’s cruising. Few, though, manage to somehow make a mediocre start worse after exiting. Flaherty checked that box.

Whether Flaherty intentionally hit Tatis to start off Sunday’s sixth inning is irrelevant. I don’t think he did, but good luck convincing Manny Machado, the Padres’ emotional leader, of that.

“Get him (Tatis) out,� Machado told reporters after the game. “If you can’t get him out, don’t hit him, right? They’ve got the best player in the game, right? Ohtani? We don’t go out there and try to hit (Shohei) Ohtani. We try to get him out.�

And Tatis?

“When he hit me, he just gave me more energy,� Tatis told reporters after he homered again in the ninth. “My boys gave me more energy. And I know from there we’re just going to embrace that moment and just take that energy on our side and just play baseball how we did tonight.�

Flaherty fired up the Friars once. Seemingly by accident. Then he did it again. Definitely on purpose.

After hitting Tatis and letting Jurickson Profar reach on a bunt back to him, Flaherty secured a big strikeout of Machado. Flaherty’s decision to celebrate it as if he had just secured the final out of Game 7 of the World Series, however, may be regrettable in hindsight. The four-letter firecracker he hurled from the mound toward Machado was hotter than any of his pitches in the game. The two went at it again after Flaherty said Machado threw a ball into the Dodgers dugout while the Padres warmed up to start the next half-inning. Machado claimed to only be weeding out a bad baseball.

“Emotions run high,� Flaherty told The Athletic. “I get it. But I’m not going to get punked.�

Problem was, Flaherty wasn’t on the mound to face the Friars after that. He had been pulled following Machado’s K. Already trailing, he wrote a check he hoped his teammates would cash. It bounced.

It reminded somewhat of a 2023 stunt Flaherty pulled when the Cardinals faced the Giants. He and LaMonte Wade Jr. clashed because Flaherty thought Wade was attempting to steal signs from second base. There was little evidence of it. Benches cleared at Busch Stadium. The result? The Giants won 11-3 after Flaherty allowed six runs on 10 hits and three walks in 4â…“ innings.

That episode with Wade will ultimately be forgotten. If the Dodgers can’t get back on top of their NL West rivals, this one won’t be so easy to flush. Flaherty isn’t afraid of showing fire. That can be a good thing. What he’s never mastered, though, is figuring out when to check it versus letting it burn. He tends to cause more self-inflicted wounds than damage to opponents.

With Machado leading the cheerleading from the top step of the dugout after his sixth-inning strikeout, rookie Jackson Merrill immediately singled in the base runner, Tatis, that Flaherty had thumped before Anthony Banda replaced him. It became the first of seven runs the Padres scored from that point forward in what became a 10-2 romp that tied this series as it heads back to San Diego.

The game got really messy later, with fans throwing things from the stands at Padres outfielder Profar and security concerns causing a long delay. An electrified Machado pulled his team together during the pause.

“He’s able to share how we want to compete in the dugout with our group,� Shildt said in his postgame interview. “It was impressive. And it brings us even closer. A lot of love on this team.�

Shildt was asked specifically after the game if Flaherty hitting Tatis and trading taunts with Machado was the flashpoint. Not to the boneheaded fans throwing junk on the field. To the win. His answer should sound familiar to Cardinals fans.

“We don’t really look to start anything,� Shildt said.

But ...

“We’re not going to take it,� he concluded.

If Shildt’s Padres go on to win this series, and they have a chance now, the manager owes his his former starter Flaherty a sincere note of thanks.