Detroit Tigers third base coach Chip Hale tossed up both hands, instructing Miguel Cabrera not to try to score from first base — something he hasn’t done since 2019 — on Nomar Mazara’s double to left field in the first inning.
Cabrera, however, did not stop.
“We joked with Miggy in the dugout,” Tigers manager AJ Hinch said. “We’re collecting all these (milestone) balls for him. He probably just set the record for most times running through a stop sign in the history of baseball.”
The 38-year-old motored around the hot corner and scored easily, giving the Tigers a two-run lead in the first inning and propelling them to a 6-2 victory Sunday and a three-game sweep of the New York Yankees at Comerica Park.The Tigers (22-31) have won three games in a row and four of their past five.
“This has been a few weeks now where we’ve put some things together,” Hinch said. “We’ve had our stretches of good and only spurts of bad. The players start to feel that momentum and excitement. We’ve got to keep going. It’s obviously a good feeling to defend your home territory. Proud of our guys.”
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Left-hander Tarik Skubal made sure the Yankees didn’t get within striking distance, posting six scoreless innings. Skubal, 24, was efficient, throwing 22 pitches in the first inning, 21 in the second, eight in the third, 21 in the fourth, 13 in the fifth and 10 in the sixth.
He became the first rookie in franchise history to log three consecutive starts with at least eight strikeouts. He struck out nine against the Seattle Mariners on May 19, nine against Cleveland on May 25 and eight Sunday against the Yankees.
“That’s part of my process, just getting more comfortable and confident in my stuff,” Skubal said. “And understanding how to attack hitters and go about it.”
Out of the bullpen, left-hander Derek Holland pitched a scoreless seventh inning. After righty Bryan Garcia gave up a two-out RBI single to Torres in the eighth, Michael Fulmer took over for the final four outs, allowing one of Garcia’s runners to score in the eighth to break up the shutout.
Fulmer loaded the bases with two outs in the ninth inning, but Aaron Judge struck out looking.
Cabrera had a chance to add to the runs against Yankees starter Michael King — a reliever making his first start this season — with the bases loaded and two outs in the second inning, but he grounded into a force out.
Errors on errors
The momentum shifted in the third inning, as New York made three errors, walked two batters and allowed four unearned runs to gift the Tigers a 6-0 lead. King allowed four runs (two earned) on three hits and two walks across 2⅓ innings.
Shortstop Gleyber Torres accounted for two errors. Third baseman Gio Urshela made the other mistake.
“Well, you got to put the ball in play to put pressure on them,” Hinch said. “That’s something we didn’t do at the beginning of the season. We’re doing a better job of that now.”
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Combining those miscues with two walks, the Tigers tacked on four runs in the third. Jonathan Schoop scored on Torres’ first error. The next three runs scored on a Willi Castro double down the left-field line against Yankees reliever Nestor Cortes.
The Tigers left Castro standing on third base and Jeimer Candelario, who reached on Torres’ second error, on first base. The third inning ended when Cabrera grounded out. He went 0-for-4 with one hit-by-pitch and one strikeout, lowering his batting average to .189 across 36 games.
“We took advantage of their mistakes,” Hinch said. “Willi Castro with the big hit after they make errors. The next at-bat is just as important as the hustle plays. It feels better to be on this end of it than the other end of it.”
Cortes finished the third and carried the Yankees through the sixth inning. He stranded the bases loaded in the sixth by striking out Eric Haase.
Scoreless Tarik Skubal
The Tigers avoided falling behind in the first inning, even after Skubal allowed a walk and a single. A double play, thanks to a nice snag at third base by Candelario, and a line-drive out stranded a New York runner at third base.
In the second, Skubal issued another walk but struck out Miguel Andujar and Tyler Wade to keep the Yankees from scoring. Clint Frazier’s single deflected off Skubal’s left hand, forcing athletic trainer Doug Teter to check on his health, but the pitcher stayed in the game.
“He really got strong as the outing went along,” Hinch said. “We’ve seen this a few times, once he catches his rhythm and timing and his delivery syncs up. … To keep (the first) inning from unraveling or from letting them get any momentum, it shut them down from the very beginning. And then he got really good.”
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Skubal completed six scoreless innings during his 11th appearance (ninth start) of 2021. The only damage: two singles, one double and three walks. The rookie struck out eight, including back-to-back strikeouts in the third inning against Giancarlo Stanton and Judge.
“Going right at guys is something important for me,” Skubal said. “Being able to get guys into two-strike counts and put them away instead of going into 0-2, then 2-2 or 0-2 to 3-2 or foul ball, foul ball. That gets the pitch count up. Being able to put guys away with two strikes was big.”
Both Stanton (curveball) and Judge (slider) struck out swinging on three pitches, after leadoff hitter DJ LeMahieu grounded out on a second-pitch curveball. It was an eight-pitch, eight-strike inning — arguably Skubal’s best inning this season — to send down New York’s best hitters.
After Frazier’s second-inning single, Skubal retired 13 of the next 15 batters to complete his outing. He threw 64 of his 95 pitches for strikes in the first scoreless MLB start of his career. He now has a 4.59 ERA.
“At the beginning of the game, you wonder how deep is going to go,” Hinch said. “You look back after six innings, no runs, quality start, gave his team a chance to win, it’s a very impressive performance.”
Stanton struck out swinging for the second time against Skubal, this time on a slider, to start the sixth inning. Judge followed by smacking a ground-rule double, but Skubal didn’t shy away from throwing strikes. He got his final two outs with three pitches.
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Short returns
Zack Short returned to the Tigers from Triple-A Toledo on Saturday — because right-hander Jose Urena went to the 10-day injured list — and made his first appearance in Sunday’s game, playing shortstop. He singled to left field in his first at-bat in the second inning and finished 1-for-2 with two walks and one strikeout.
It was the third MLB game in his career.
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.