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Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal gives up grand slam in 7th inning in 8-3 loss to Athletics
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- Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal gives up grand slam in 7th inning in 8-3 loss to Athletics
WEST SACRAMENTO, CA — The Athletics hit the lights on Detroit Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal in the seventh inning.
Shea Langeliers was hitless in his first three trips to the plate, but he stepped up in the biggest moment of the game, blasting Skubal's sinker for a 450-foot grand slam with two outs in the seventh inning.
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The Tigers lost, 8-3.
The grand slam from Langeliers flipped the scoreboard, putting the Athletics ahead, 6-3, in the first of three games in the series Monday, Aug. 25, at Sutter Health Park. The 8,105 fans experienced a light show after the game-changing grand slam.
The Tigers (78-55) have lost back-to-back games.
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Skubal allowed six runs (one earned run) on seven hits and zero walks with 12 strikeouts, throwing 99 pitches. The Tigers made two errors on defense, which led to five unearned runs — one in the sixth, four in the seventh.
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Both errors were charged to shortstop Zach McKinstry .
The only earned run: Colby Thomas hit a leadoff home run off Skubal in the seventh, cutting the Tigers' lead to 3-2 and kickstarting the nightmare inning.
Everything unraveled from there.
The Athletics put two runners in scoring position on back-to-back hits: an infield single from Darell Hernaiz that Spencer Torkelson failed to scoop at first base and a hard-hit double down the right-field line from Tyler Soderstrom . The Athletics then loaded the bases on McKinstry's second fielding error, as the ball deflected off his glove on a backhanded pick and trickled away.
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Skubal responded by striking out the next two batters with the bases loaded. He should've been out of the seventh inning, but the previous error extended the inning and brought Langeliers to the plate with two outs and the bases loaded.
That set the stage for the grand slam.
Entering Monday's game, Langeliers had been hitting .375 with a 1.061 OPS against left-handed pitchers, compared to hitting .232 with a .792 OPS against right-handed pitchers. The Tigers stuck with Skubal for the Langeliers matchup, rather than going to a warming right-handed reliever in Kyle Finnegan or Brenan Hanifee .
The fourth-pitch sinker from Skubal to Langeliers caught too much of the middle of the strike zone. He punished Skubal for the in-zone mistake, giving the Athletics a 6-3 lead.
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Langeliers is hitting .322 with 17 home runs in 34 games since the All-Star break.
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The Athletics extended their lead to 8-3 in the eighth inning, when pinch-hitter Nick Kurtz blasted a two-run home run off left-handed reliever Drew Sommers.
In 2025, the Athletics have three players with at least 25 home runs: Langeliers (29), Kurtz (27) and Brent Rooker (26). Meanwhile, Soderstrom (23) isn't far behind. Kurtz is the favorite to win American League Rookie of the Year.
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Tarik Skubal strikeouts
Early on, Skubal dominated the Athletics.
It was a strong performance from the reigning AL Cy Young winner (and the favorite to repeat) — until the very end.
For Skubal's first nine outs, he recorded seven strikeouts: Langeliers (slider), Rooker (changeup), Thomas (fastball), Hernaiz (changeup), Brett Harris (sinker), Zack Gelof (changeup) and Langeliers (fastball). Of those seven, the first six were swinging strikeouts.
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Skubal struck out his 10th batter in the sixth inning, with Rooker watching a 100.3 mph fastball located down-and-in for a called-third strike.
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He has recorded 17 double-digit strikeout performances in his six-year MLB career, including 10 in 2025, passing Hal Newhouser for second most in franchise history. The Tigers record is owned by Mickey Lolich in 1971, with 11 double-digit strikeout games.
In Monday's start, Skubal generated 21 whiffs on 59 swings for an above-average 35.6% whiff rate: 11 changeups, five fastballs, four sinkers and one slider.
Skubal has a 2.28 ERA in 26 starts.
J.T. Ginn finally stumbles
For the Athletics, right-hander J.T. Ginn matched Skubal until the sixth inning.
That's when the Tigers struck.
Gleyber Torres sparked the Tigers with a solo home run. He blasted Ginn's first-pitch sinker 417 feet to left-center field with a 107.6 mph exit velocity. It was his 14th homer in 117 games and his first homer since Aug. 2.
The Tigers kept scoring in the sixth, as Kerry Carpenter and Riley Greene hit back-to-back singles to put runners on the corners, with Greene moving up to second on an ensuing wild pitch. The Athletics called left-handed reliever Sean Newcomb out of the bullpen for a matchup with switch-hitter Wenceel Pérez.
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There was one out with two runners in scoring position.
Pérez, batting from the right side, slapped a middle-away sinker into right field for a two-run double, driving in both Carpenter and Greene for a 3-0 lead in the sixth inning.
All three runs were charged to Ginn's tab. The 26-year-old allowed seven hits and one walk with eight strikeouts across 5⅓ innings, throwing 84 pitches. He owns a 4.96 ERA in 18 games (11 starts).
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold .
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers' Tarik Skubal allows grand slam in loss vs Athletics
