Majors-best tigers end 6-game skid with all-star tarik skubal's strong start
The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner and starter in Tuesday's All-Star Game cruised into the seventh inning with a two-hit shutout and a tenuous 1–0 lead. He left with runners at the corners and two outs, and the Rangers' Adolis García scored on a wild pitch by Tyler Holton. But Detroit's Matt Vierling hit a tiebreaking single with two outs in the eighth inning, and Will Vest entered in the eighth and got four straight outs–against the top four batters in Texas' order–for his 16th save for the Tigers (60–40). Skubal left the park still with 10 wins (one shy of the AL lead), 164 strikeouts (one behind Boston's Garrett Crochet), and a 2.19 ERA (tied with Crochet for the best in the American League).
'Were the first to 60, right?' That matters more (than his personal stats), Skubal said. 'We just haven't particularly been playing our best baseball, I don't think, for the last couple weeks. That's just part of the season. Not from lack of effort or anything like that. But I knew I wanted to win today. I expect every time I go out there to put our team in position to win, and we were able to do that.'
Skubal struck out 11 and walked none in his seventh double-digit strikeout game this season. His final batter was a strikeout of Jonah Heim that left him at 105 pitches, three short of his career high. Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said Skubal emptied his tank on the Heim at-bat and made the pitching change to avoid overworking him. 'If we're going anywhere (this season), we're going with him,' Hinch said.
Two of Texas' four hits off Skubal were by Corey Seager, the lone left-handed hitter in the starting lineup against the lefty Skubal. Seager went 2 for 3 off Skubal, improving to 8 for 12 in his career. Skubal said he asked Seager during last year's All-Star festivities: 'Bro, how do I get you out? Can you tell me?' Seager, Skubal said, politely declined and claimed not to see the ball well when hitting against him. 'When he's right, the stuff he does at the dish is the best in the league,' Skubal said.
Skubal is again among the best in baseball on the mound. He did his part in ending what was the major's longest active losing streak, even without getting a personal W.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Arabiya
22 minutes ago
- Al Arabiya
Quero has four hits, White Sox hit four hrs in 12-5 win over Cubs
Rookie Edgar Quero had his first four-hit game, rookie Chase Meidroth homered among his three hits, and the Chicago White Sox beat Shota Imanaga and the crosstown Cubs 12-5 on Friday night for their sixth win in seven games. Colson Montgomery, Austin Slater, and Mike Tauchman also went deep as the White Sox set season highs in runs and hits (18). Miguel Vargas also had three hits, and Lenyn Sosa drove in three runs. Adrian Houser (6-2) pitched 6 2/3 innings of five-hit ball as the White Sox handed the Cubs their fourth loss in five games. Reese McGuires's three-run homer off Houser with two outs in the seventh finally put the Cubs on the board after trailing 11-0. The last-place White Sox gained a measure of revenge against the contending Cubs, who swept a three-game series at Wrigley Field in May while outscoring them 26-8. The Cubs remained one game behind first-place Milwaukee in the NL Central. Imanaga (7-4) exited after the first two White Sox batters hit safely in the fourth to give the South Siders a 6-0 lead with 12 hits against him. The left-hander from Japan was charged with seven runs, and his outing matched his shortest in two years in the majors. Houser retired the first eight Cubs batters en route to winning his fourth straight decision. Key moment: The White Sox jumped ahead 3-0 in the first as five of their first six batters hit safely, including Meidroth's home run to lead off the inning. The White Sox added two in the second with Montgomery tagging a center-cut fastball followed by three singles. The South Siders upped it to 9-0 in the fourth on Tauchman's drive. Key stat: Imanaga has pitched fewer than four innings only once before in 43 games in the majors. He lasted three in an 11-1 loss to the Mets on June 21, 2024, when he allowed 10 runs and 11 hits. Up next: Cubs RHP Cade Horton (3-3, 4.04 ERA) faces White Sox RHP Aaron Civale (2-6, 4.76) on Saturday.
Al Arabiya
35 minutes ago
- Al Arabiya
Eovaldi pitches 5 scoreless innings as rangers beat braves 8-3
Nathan Eovaldi pitched three-hit ball over five scoreless innings in his first start since the All-Star break, and the Texas Rangers beat the Atlanta Braves 8-3 on Friday night. Eovaldi (8-3) threw 53 of his 86 pitches for strikes as Texas won its fourth straight and handed Atlanta a third straight loss. He struck out seven but walked a season-high four. It was also Eovaldi's first start since the Rangers paid him a 100,000 All-Star Game bonus even though the 35-year-old wasn't selected despite a 7-3 record and a 1.58 ERA. He missed his first start after the break – a matchup with AL All-Star starter Tarik Skubal and the Tigers – with back tightness. Sam Haggerty singled leading off the first against Joey Wentz (2-2) before stealing his 10th base and scoring on a sacrifice fly by Marcus Semien for a 1-0 lead. Jonah Heim hit his ninth home run – a two-out shot in the second for a 2-0 lead. Wyatt Langford had a two-out RBI double in the fourth, and Sam Haggerty doubled in a run in the fifth for a 4-0 advantage. Three singles, two walks, a hit batter, and a sac fly led to four runs in the eighth. Michael Harris II hit his eighth home run – a leadoff shot off Jacob Latz in the seventh to cut it to 4-1. Wentz allowed four runs in 4 1/3 innings. Corey Seager went 0 for 3 but walked twice to extend his on-base streak to 25 games for the Rangers. Austin Riley went 0 for 4 in his first game for Atlanta since suffering an abdominal strain on July 11. Key moment: Texas had allowed two runs or fewer in a club-record-tying seven straight games until Caleb Boushley surrendered two in the ninth to end the run. Key stat: Seager is the only player to have an on-base streak of 24-plus games in each of the last three seasons.
Al Arabiya
35 minutes ago
- Al Arabiya
Paul Goldschmidt regrets bad throw in 12-5 loss to phillies, yankees' 9th error in 4 games
If Paul Goldschmidt could do it over again, he would run to first base in an attempt to retire Nick Castellanos instead of trying an off-balance throw to the plate in a bid to prevent Trea Turner from scoring the tying run. Not only did Goldschmidt's throw not get the second out of the seventh inning, but the Gold Glove first baseman's miscue was the ninth error in four games for the Yankees, who committed two Friday night in a 12-5 loss to Philadelphia that dropped them 5 1/2 games back of AL East-leading Toronto. 'I was playing in and he hit a little bit to my right, a little soft, and I knew going to be a bang-bang play at first and tried to get him at home,' said Goldschmidt, a four-time Gold Glove winner. 'Looking back, I should have just made the play and went to first base there. I think even if I put that throw perfect, Turner's probably still beating that out.' With Turner on third and Kyle Schwarber on second, Castellanos hit a 42-foot grounder at 61.4 mph to Goldschmidt, who was playing in. At the edge of the grass, Goldschmidt moved to his right, made an off-balance throw, and the ball sailed over catcher Austin Wells' glove as Turner scored the tying run, Schwarber took third, and Castellanos second. 'Probably too aggressive of a play by me to try and make a play where they were going to be safe anyway and it led to another base runner rather than just getting the out at first,' Goldschmidt said. 'So that was a mistake.' It was Goldschmidt's third error this season and the Yankees' 54th. Two pitches later, Luke Weaver hung a changeup that J.T. Realmuto hit for a tiebreaking three-run homer. 'You're Paul Goldschmidt and you trust that I'm going to throw the ball on line,' manager Aaron Boone said. 'Even if we don't have a play there, maybe something happens. The runner trips or something, so you're trying to make a play there.' Weaver allowed his fifth homer in 12 appearances since making a quick return from a hamstring injury on June 20. He allowed home runs in three straight outings July 1-4 and had four straight scoreless appearances before Friday. New York's relievers allowed 10 runs and has a 4.28 ERA, 23rd among the 30 teams. The Yankees have a 6.20 ERA in July, the worst mark in the major leagues. 'It's a challenge right now, but we've got to have guys step up,' Boone said. New York is 3-6 following a five-game winning streak. The Yankees are 21-27 opening a seven-game AL East lead with a 35-20 start committing 30 errors during the slide. 'We're in a good spot to make a run here,' said Austin Wells, who hit one of the Yankees' four solo homers. 'I think the tides are going to turn.'
