Cleveland — Tarik Skubal will have better nights.
The rookie left-hander gave up three long home runs in four innings in the Tigers’ 11-3 loss to the Cleveland Indians Saturday night.
It was the Tigers’ third straight loss.
“What happened tonight was unacceptable,” said Skubal, who just six days ago limited the Indians to two runs in 5.1 innings. “That’s not who I am. But it’s just learning from it and move forward. I get the ball in another five days and I can prepare very well between now and then.”
He didn’t seem to have the same life on his pitches Saturday, nor the same command. His fastball velocity was down from an average of 94 to 93 mph. Also, the spin rates on his secondary pitches were down, according to Statcast data.
“I think he couldn’t put his fastball anywhere that he wanted to and he got burned on it quite a few times, in even counts and in hitter’s counts,” manager AJ Hinch said. “He got beat on pitches and obviously didn’t have his best stuff tonight.”
Skubal gave up a two-run home run to Roberto Perez on a 91-mph fastball in the second. Cesar Hernandez, who doubled in the first inning, lined a hanging split-change deep into the seats in left field in the third inning.
Then in the fourth, with two outs and two on, Jordan Luplow hit a 94-mph fastball 432 feet into the center-field bleachers. Skubal got a swinging strike one on Luplow with the the same fastball.
“Location dictated those results,” Skubal said. “I’d just thrown one by him and I wanted to come up and in — and I missed middle. That’s what happened…Fastball command was not good.
“If I’m going in, I’ve got to get it in. If I am going away, it needs to be away. I can’t be living in the middle of the plate.”
Those three homers traveled a combined distance of 1,261 feet.
BOX SCORE: Indians 11, Tigers 3
The one bright moment of the game for the Tigers was provided by rookie right-hander Alex Lange. Just activated off the taxi squad to replace the injured Julio Teheran (shoulder strain), Lange made a nice memory for himself.
In his big-league debut, Lange retired the heart of the Indians order — Jose Ramirez on a grounder to first, Eddie Rosario on a grounder to short and he capped his day by striking out Franmil Reyes.
“That was awesome,” Skubal said. “I love watching stuff like that. Two quick outs and then he gets a punch-out. A scoreless, clean debut — that was awesome to see that from a guy who’s worked so hard.”
The Tigers, though, continue to struggle on offense. They came into the game with the second-lowest run total in the American League (24). Only the Indians had scored less, until Saturday. The Tigers came in ranked 11th in average (.211) and 10th in slugging (.368).
Indians right-hander Aaron Civale didn’t let the Tigers off the mat. He faced the minimum 18 hitters through six innings. Robbie Grossman singled in the first and Nomar Mazara singled in the fifth — both were erased on double-plays.
Grossman led off the seventh with his first home run as a Tiger, the lone blemish on Civale’s 7-2/3-inning gem. Grossman had three of the Tigers’ five hits.
Jeimer Candelario, who was in an 0-for-11 skid, hit a two-run home run in the ninth.
“It’s not a lack of focus, at all,” Hinch said. “We just got beat in every facet of the game. We didn’t hit until the end, though we did put up some good at-bats at the end. But we didn’t hit and we didn’t pitch, and when you don’t do that it makes for a long night for sure.”
Reliever Bryan Garcia epitomized the frustration that seems to be percolating as the Tigers fall to 3-5 on the young season. He got the first two outs in the sixth, before walking Perez and Andres Gimenez. Garcia didn’t get a couple of borderline calls from Kerwin Danley and was visibly upset.
His frustration doubled when he hung a 2-2 slider to Luplow. It looked like he’d hit his second three-run homer of the game, but, after a long video review, it was ruled a double. The ball hit off the yellow border atop the left-center field wall.
Garcia got Hernandez to hit a ground ball to Miguel Cabrera at first, but Garcia was late getting to the bag and then missed it with his foot after taking the toss from Cabrera.
The Indians finished with five homers, the last two off left Tyler Alexander. Reyes hit a solo homer off him in the seventh and Gimenez hit a two-run shot off him in the eighth.
Alexander has given up three homers in 3-2/3 innings this season.
Twitter: @cmccosky