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Jake Rogers guides Detroit Tigers, Tarik Skubal in 8-2 win over Cleveland Guardians
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- Jake Rogers guides Detroit Tigers, Tarik Skubal in 8-2 win over Cleveland Guardians
CLEVELAND — Jake Rogers dove head-first into home plate after a long run, sliding in safely.
His teammates laughed from the dugout.
The Detroit Tigers benefitted from Rogers' triple with a fielding error in their 8-2 win over the Cleveland Guardians in Monday's series opener, the first of four games.
Wenceel Perez and Jake Rogers of the Detroit Tigers celebrate scoring on Rogers' triple and a throwing error in the second inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field on Monday, July 22, 2024 in Cleveland.
Rogers, a defense-first catcher who isn't paid for his speed, flared a ball into center field with two outs in the second inning. The ball should've dropped in for a single, but when it bounced past diving center fielder Angel Martínez , Rogers turned on the jets. He was on pace for a triple, then he turned the corner and hustled home, only because Martínez slipped in deep center field upon retrieving the ball. Rogers beat the relay throw home with a head-first slide.
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Rogers was called safe on the bang-bang play at the plate. Players and coaches smiled and celebrated as he trotted back to the dugout, even though it wasn't an official inside-the-park home run.
With help from Rogers, the Tigers (50-51) avoided back-to-back losses — which hasn't occurred since June 28-29 — while securing their 11th win in the last 14 games.
The Tigers also benefitted from Rogers' work as the catcher, as he led a group of three pitchers, including left-hander Tarik Skubal , in limiting the Guardians to one run despite 11 hits — before the ninth inning.
Skubal, making his first start since pitching in the All-Star Game, allowed one run on 10 hits and one walk with six strikeouts across seven innings, throwing 97 pitches.
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The 27-year-old worked with at least one runner on base in the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh innings. The Guardians, though, scored their lone run off Skubal in the second inning on a bases-loaded bunt from light-hitting catcher Austin Hedges .
The 10 hits allowed were a career high for Skubal's 95-game MLB career.
At the plate, Rogers finished 1-for-4 with one strikeout, but his Little League inside-the-park home run resulted in two runs in the second inning, giving the Tigers a commanding 4-0 lead.
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Tarik Skubal battles
The first inning seemed easy.
Skubal needed just 12 pitches to take care of the first three batters in his 20th start: Steven Kwan grounded out, Martínez popped out, and José Ramírez flew out.
Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Tarik Skubal talks to umpire Alex Tosi between innings during the game against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field on Monday, July 22, 2024 in Cleveland.
There wasn't another inning where Skubal retried all three batters. A bases-loaded bunt from Hedges, who owns a .160 batting average, with two outs in the second inning cut the Tigers' lead to 4-1, but Skubal didn't flinch in any of the other innings.
Skubal escaped the third inning with an inning-ending double play, stranding Ramírez and Josh Naylor on the bases. He escaped the fourth inning with an inning-ending strikeout of Kwan, stranding two more runners. He then finished his outing by getting Naylor to ground out to first base with Ramírez on second base, ending the seventh inning.
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When Naylor grounded out, Skubal screamed in celebration of a successful outing despite a lot of stress.
After Skubal, right-handed reliever Shelby Miller worked around a single in the eighth inning.
Left-handed reliever Easton Lucas , recently recalled from Triple-A Toledo, loaded the bases with a hit by pitch, single and walk, which ultimately led to the Guardians' second run, but left-handed reliever Andrew Chafin replaced Lucas and recorded two outs in a row to end the game without further damage.
Justyn-Henry Malloy stays hot
In the first inning, Justyn-Henry Malloy — who has five of his seven home runs in the past 14 games — sparked the Tigers with a two-run home run off right-hander Carlos Carrasco .
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Carrasco threw a middle-in sinker; Malloy simply turned on the pitch for a pull-side home run.
Just like that, the Tigers grabbed a 2-0 lead.
After Rogers' second-inning triple, the Tigers extended their lead to 6-1 in the sixth inning with an additional two runs, thanks to back-to-back doubles from Mark Canha and Wenceel Pérez to chase Carrasco, followed by a sacrifice fly from Gio Urshela .
Urshela delivered another sacrifice fly in the eighth inning for a 7-1 advantage.
In the ninth inning, Colt Keith crushed a middle-middle slider from right-handed reliever Peter Strzelecki for a solo home run, making it 8-1. He has 10 homers through 90 games in his rookie season, including six of them in his last 15 games.
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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 beat Cleveland Guardians 8-2 for 11th win in 14 games
