Chicago Cubs starter Jake Arrieta efficiently carved up the Detroit Tigers Friday night at Comerica Park. He retired the minimum 17 batters, thanks to three double plays, with two outs in the sixth inning before his opponents did significant damage.
The Tigers (13-25) made noise with back-to-back home runs from Jake Rogers and Robbie Grossman at that point. But those were the only runs the Tigers scored in 4-2 loss to the Cubs in the series opener.
The Cubs snapped Detroit’s four-game winning streak. The offense scored its two runs on four hits and one walk. The Tigers struck out five times.
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Left-hander Tarik Skubal started and allowed allowed four runs on five hits and one walk in six innings, striking out six. He pitched well in the first and sixth innings but allowed hard contact. He threw 64 of his 95 pitches for strikes.
The second of three games is set for 4:10 p.m. Saturday. Right-hander Jose Urena is starting, opposed by righty Trevor Williams.
Skubal hit hard
The first and sixth innings were Skubal’s best inning.
He sent down the Cubs in order — striking out Wilson Contreras looking with a 3-2 fastball and Kris Bryant swinging with an 0-2 curveball. He needed just 12 pitches. It was the inning the Tigers have been waiting to see from Skubal, who has struggled with his command and pitch count this season.
Then, Skubal’s start went downhill.
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After striking out Javier Baez swinging with a fastball to start the second inning, Skubal gave up back-to-back singles. Then in the third, Bryant mashed a home run to left field.
Skubal allowed two more runs in the fifth inning, giving the Cubs a 4-0 lead. Anthony Rizzo cranked an RBI double to the right-field corner, and Baez chipped in an RBI single. Baez’s single was a broken bat bloop to center field, and the ball dropped between three defenders.
But the Baez-like weak contact didn’t happen often.
Of the 20 balls in play against Skubal, the Cubs hit eight of them with more than a 100 mph exit velocity. Against Skubal’s fastball, the Cubs averaged a 98 mph exit velocity on balls in play.
In the sixth, Skubal bounced back by retiring all three batters he faced. He struck out Matt Duffy with a fastball in a 2-2 count, before sending down Nico Hoerner and Jason Heyward on ground outs.
Skubal used 12 pitches in the first inning, 20 in the second, 16 in the third, 13 in the fourth, 22 in the fifth and 12 in the sixth. He generated 11 swings and misses, earning three whiffs each with his fastball, changeup and slider. He also had 18 called strikes.
His fastball averaged 94.5 mph and reached 97 mph. Skubal has an 5.73 ERA in eight games (six starts) this season.
Candelario saves run
With two outs in the second inning, Hoerner dropped a bunt down the third-base line. The Cubs had a runner on third, and David Bote would’ve scored if Candelario touched the baseball. Instead, he allowed the ball to roll slowly into foul territory — just before the bag. It was a smart but risky decision.
The bunt attempt was near-perfect, so Hoerner and Bote would have been safe at first base and home plate, respectively, by the time Candelario tried to scoop up the slow roller and throw to Miguel Cabrera.
That’s why Candelario’s heads up play — deciding not to make any play at all — saved a run.
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Back-to-back
With two outs in the sixth, Rogers grabbed ahold of Arrieta’s sinker in a 3-2 count. He sent the ball 349 feet to left field, placing it in the Tigers’ bullpen. His long ball marked his first homer this season and fifth in his MLB career. He played 35 games in 2019 and four more games so far in 2021.
Arrieta sent Grossman a similar sinker in a 1-0 count.
He didn’t miss.
Grossman pummeled the ball 442 feet to right-center field with a 108.2 mph exit velocity, cutting the Tigers’ deficit to 4-2. It was Grossman’s fourth home run this season. (He hit six in 138 games in 2019 and eight in 51 games in 2020.)
[ Masks no longer required to watch Tigers at Comerica Park, beginning May 15 ]
Arrieta threw 78 pitches (47 strikes) across six innings, allowing two runs on four hits and one walk, with one strikeout. Chicago’s bullpen — Ryan Tepera, Andrew Chafin and Craig Kimbrel — combined to throw three scoreless innings.
Evan Petzold is a sports reporter at the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold. Read more on the Detroit Tigers and sign up for our Tigers newsletter.