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Shohei Ohtani comes up bigger than Tarik Skubal in Detroit Tigers' 4-3 loss to L.A. Dodgers
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- Shohei Ohtani comes up bigger than Tarik Skubal in Detroit Tigers' 4-3 loss to L.A. Dodgers
Detroit Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal reached 100 pitches for the first time in the 2024 season.
The 27-year-old, who will be ready to start for the American League in Tuesday's All-Star Game if called upon, surpassed the century mark to record the final out in the sixth inning of Friday's game against the Los Angeles Dodgers .
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Skubal kept the Dodgers to two runs across six innings in his 101-pitch performance, but the Tigers lost, 4-3, to the Dodgers on a big swing from National League All-Star starter Shohei Ohtani in the ninth inning. The first of three games in the series was played in front of a rare sellout crowd of 42,060 fans at Comerica Park.
"You can feel it as a player," Skubal said. "I could feel the buzz in the park when I walked out today. You want to win in front of those crowds, when there's however many thousand people, but we didn't, so we'll do it tomorrow."
Detroit Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal (29) delivers a pitch against L. A. Dodgers during the second inning at Comerica Park in Detroit on Friday, July 12, 2024.
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The Tigers (45-50) have two games remaining until the All-Star break.
Skubal put the Tigers in a position to win, but he couldn't control what happened after his exit. The Dodgers scored the game-tying run in the eighth inning and the go-ahead run in the ninth inning.
In the eighth, the Dodgers collected back-to-back two-out singles off right-handed reliever Beau Brieske , which set up Teoscar Hernández 's two-strike, two-out RBI single off right-handed reliever Jason Foley to tie the game, 3-3.
In the ninth, the Dodgers picked up a one-out single off Foley, setting up a pinch-hit single by Austin Barnes off left-handed reliever Tyler Holton to put runners on the corners. With two outs, Ohtani smoked an up-and-in sinker for a ground-rule RBI double to center. He hit the ball with a 107.3 mph exit velocity.
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That's how the Dodgers took a 4-3 lead.
"Obviously, (Will) Smith is unbelievably good against left-handed pitching," said manager A.J. Hinch, who had Holton pitch to Ohtani instead of Smith. "And Ohtani is Ohtani, so you're kind of stuck with whichever guy you want to be a tough matchup. Ohtani had some tough swings against Skubal, and Holton has been pretty good against left-on-left. You're kind of picking your poison there, which is why they're good."
The Dodgers sent right-handed reliever Daniel Hudson to the mound for the bottom of the ninth inning. Riley Greene tagged a middle-up fastball, but he flew out to deep center field to strand two runners, ending the game.
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"He almost had the best early swing and the best late swing that we could have asked for," Hinch said. "That was a really good swing at the end to the big part of the park. It looked like he just hit it on either side of the barrel."
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Tarik Skubal shines
The Dodgers didn't get a hit against Skubal until one out in the fourth inning, when Freddie Freeman — also an NL All-Star — tagged a changeup that hung in the heart of the strike zone. The rare two-strike mistake from Skubal traveled 405 feet to right-center field for a solo home run.
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Just like that, the Dodgers put a dent in Skubal's hit column and trimmed the Tigers' lead to 3-1.
"I think all six (innings) were pretty good," Skubal said. "You give up two runs in the fourth, and it's not the end of the world, and then you get two zeros and keep us in the ballgame. But we lose, so it doesn't really matter."
Skubal sent down the first eight batters he faced before a fielding error by shortstop Javier Báez . Even then, Skubal sent down 10 of 11 batters before Freeman's home run.
He made a statement by retiring the first three batters of the game in the first inning: Ohtani (groundout), Smith (strikeout) and Freeman (groundout). He continued his dominance by striking out the side in the second inning: Teoscar Hernández (swinging on a changeup), Miguel Rojas (swinging on another changeup) and Andy Pages (looking at a fastball).
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After Freeman's homer with one out in the fourth, Skubal walked the next batter — Hernández — on eight pitches, and although he bounced back with a groundout for the second out, he failed to put away Pages.
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Detroit Tigers left fielder Justyn-Henry Malloy (44) runs for an RBI after center fielder Riley Greene (31) bats a double against L. A. Dodgers during the first inning at Comerica Park in Detroit on Friday, July 12, 2024.
Pages hit an RBI single to right field, making it 3-2.
"The pitch to Freddie, it's right down the middle," Skubal said. "But the walk to Teoscar, and then he comes around to score, that's the more frustrating part about that inning."
Skubal wiggled his way out of the 31-pitch fourth inning with help from Báez, who made a diving stop on a ball up the middle from Chris Taylor and glove-flipped to second baseman Andy Ibáñez for an inning-ending force out.
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Including Taylor, Skubal retired the final seven batters he faced to complete his six-inning start. He allowed two runs on two hits and one walk with eight strikeouts.
"Attack with heaters like he always does," said catcher Jake Rogers . "Get inside every once in a while to keep them uncomfortable. Those lefties, stay away and go hard in. Spin away, soft away, soft down. He did good. He kept the soft stuff down and away, and he dotted some two-seams and heaters in. It was typical Skub."
Skubal threw 12 pitches in the first inning, 12 in the second, 16 in the third, 31 in the fourth, 12 in the fifth and 18 in the sixth. His 101 pitches marked the most he has thrown since June 28, 2022.
His ERA climbed from 2.37 to 2.41 in his 19th start.
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Riley Greene rakes
The Tigers didn't wait to find the scoreboard.
A double from Greene — who will be joining Skubal at the All-Star Game — drove in Justyn-Henry Malloy (single) and Matt Vierling (walk) with one out in the first inning. He hit a down-and-in sinker from left-hander James Paxton .
On the bases, Vierling tested the arm of Pages in center field and beat the throw to home plate. It was a perfect (and aggressive) send from third base coach Joey Cora.
Detroit Tigers third base Matt Vierling (8) slides into home base to score a run from center fielder Riley Greene's double against L. A. Dodgers during the first inning at Comerica Park in Detroit on Friday, July 12, 2024.
The Tigers, though, struggled on the bases later in the game, beginning with Mark Canha getting thrown out at second base trying to stretch a single into a double in the fifth inning. In the seventh, Pérez was caught stealing second base and Greene was picked off at first base. Both seventh-inning basepath outs came on reversed challenges after the Tigers were initially called safe.
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"Everything matters in every game," Hinch said, "but especially in close games."
In the second inning, the Tigers extended their lead to 3-0 when Malloy — for the first time in his career — hit a triple. The rookie punched a middle-away changeup, located outside of the strike zone, to the gap in right-center field.
The two-out triple from Malloy, in his 31st game, scored Ryan Vilade for a 3-0 advantage.
Vilade finished 2-for-2 with two singles and one walk in his first game for the Tigers since May 12. The Tigers called him up from Triple-A Toledo before Friday's series opener.
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Malloy, hitting .211 with a .730 OPS, went 2-for-2 with one walk. Canha, who had sat out the previous three games, finished 2-for-2 with two walks in a much-needed positive performance.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold .
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Tarik Skubal goes deep, but Detroit Tigers fall to L.A. Dodgers, 4-3
