Pirates Mauled by Tigers; pitching crumbles, had chances vs. Skubal
This article originally appeared on PGHBaseballNOW.com.
The Pittsburgh Pirates faced a tall task in Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal in the first game of a doubleheader at Comerica Park on Thursday night.
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While the Pirates generated nine baserunners against Skubal, they couldn't cash in. Continued poor offense combined with pitching woes led to a 9-2 beatdown at the hands of Detroit.
The Tigers (48-27) scored the first seven runs of the game starting with Riley Greene's sacrifice fly in the first.
After a Gleyber Torres sac fly in the second, Greene drove in three runs with a double that got past Pirates' center fielder Billy Cook with two outs.
Detroit scored two more runs in the fourth inning before knocking Pirates' starter Andrew Heaney (3-6) out of the game — once on a Torres double and again on a Spencer Torkleson sacrifice fly.
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