ANAHEIM, CA – Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal went deep; first baseman Spencer Torkelson went even deeper, crushing a pair of homers and darn near everybody in the Tigers lineup contributed in some way in a 7-0 rout of the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday, July 18.
Skubal, the reigning two-time American League Cy Young Award winner, pitched seven innings for the first time since April 29, recording nine strikeouts with no walks, holding the Angels scoreless while scattering five hits. It was his longest outing since before his elbow surgery. He had thrown only five innings in each of his previous two starts.
The surging Tigers (46-52) have won 24 of 38 games since June 1. They head into Sunday’s series finale 5½ games back in the AL Central (behind the Cleveland Guardians and Chicago White Sox, who are tied) and 3½ games back in the AL wild-card chase, though with five teams between them and third-wild-card squad Boston).
The Tigers will go for the sweep against the Angels (38-61) on Sunday with right-hander Casey Mize on the mound.
At the plate: Tigers come out hot
The Tigers came into this game with a sputtering offense.
They did score two runs in the ninth inning on Friday night in a 2-1 victory but that snapped a run of 18 scoreless innings, spanning the All-Star Break.
But that small-sample cold spell was quickly forgotten by stacking together a bunch of fantastic at-bats in the first inning against right-handed starter Grayson Rodriguez: a Kevin McGonigle double, a Dillon Dingler hit by pitch, a Colt Keith RBI single to center and, doing the most damage, a 415-foot Spencer Torkelson three-run homer to left-center.
Just like that, the Tigers took a 4-0 lead, then gave the ball to Skubal, who hasn’t given up more than four runs all season.
But the Tigers weren’t done.
They turned it into a rout in the second inning with a string of more good at-bats: a James Outman single, a McGonigle single, another Dingler HBP (his third in three plate appearances, dating back to Friday), a sacrifice fly by Keith and a sacrifice fly by Riley Greene.
The Tigers were doing everything right: productive at-bats, plenty of good swings, aggressive baserunning and stacking it all together.
Just like that, the Tigers had a 6-0 lead.
Then, Torkelson added a solo homer, just to make it 7-0. He has now hit 18 homers.
Keith, it should be mentioned, went 4-for-4, driving in a pair of runs.
On the mound: Give Skubal a lead, you got trouble
The Tigers had a 4-0 lead before Skubal even threw a pitch.
After dominating the first inning, the Tigers’ extended their lead to 6-0 in the second.
So, Skubal had a huge cushion.
He cruised through the first five innings. Then got unlucky in the sixth.
Logan O’Hoppe singled to right on a 0-2 pitch. Then, Mike Trout flared a soft popup to short right that found some grass. The Angles had two on, one out. But Skubal got Vaughn Grissom to ground into a double play.
Skubal pumped his fist and screamed, clearly satisfied and happy to get out of the jam.
Skubal was at 87 pitches when he got the A.J. Hinch handshake, signaling his night was done. At that point, the Tigers had a 7-0 lead and the Tigers’ bullpen was well-rested.
With the comfortable lead, Hinch turned to Jacob Waguespack to pitch the eighth. After the Angels loaded the bases with two outs, Hinch turned to Kyle Finnegan to clean up the mess. Finnegan got Grissom, the Angels’ No. 3 hitter, to line out to center.
Next up: Going for the sweep
The Tigers will go for the sweep with Mize (4-6, 2.79 ERA) on the mound, facing right-hander Ryan Johnson (1-4, 6.75) on Sunday (4:07 p.m., Detroit SportsNet). After the game, the Tigers change venues in this strange California-to-Chicago trip, getting ready for three games against the Cubs on Monday-Wednesday.
Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com. Follow him on X @seideljeff.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Tarik Skubal, Spencer Torkelson power Tigers to 2nd straight vs Angels
About the Author
