DETROIT — The sight of Tarik Skubal waiting for his first pitch at Comerica Park until the bottom of the first inning while his team batted Tuesday was different, and not just for the fans.
“I was lucky someone said something in the dugout, because I was going to run out [for the top of the first inning],” Skubal said. “Thank God someone said that, because I was going to run out, and then [A’s starter Frankie] Montas would run out, and no one would know what’s going on.”
The Tigers were technically the visitors for the first game of their doubleheader against the A’s, since the game was originally scheduled to be played in Oakland during the first week of the season. The way Skubal pitched, it was clearly his house, tossing seven scoreless innings in a 6-0 win that ended Detroit’s six-game losing streak.
Though the Tigers bolstered their rotation with veterans Eduardo Rodriguez and Michael Pineda, Skubal has been their best starter all season, punctuated by a dominant strikeout-to-walk rate (5.67). He has struggled at times with a combination of defensive miscues behind him and offensive anemia in support of him. On Tuesday, Skubal had his best start of the year despite a fastball that wasn’t as sharp as he would’ve liked.
Skubal retired Oakland’s first eight batters until Tony Kemp’s third-inning double, and allowed just three hits with three walks and five strikeouts. Just two balls Oakland hit off of him topped 100 mph in exit velocity; both went for outs. None of the three hits off Skubal was harder than 84 mph.
“My fastball didn’t have quite the life it usually does for whatever reason,” Skubal said, “so I relied on the slider a little bit more today. I just liked that pitch a little bit better today.”
Skubal spent Spring Training sharpening his changeup for games like this against lineups heavy on right-handed hitters. Kemp was the only left-handed hitter in Oakland’s order, but Skubal threw sliders for 30 of his 92 pitches, drawing three swings and misses, six called strikes and three of his five strikeouts.
Skubal turned to the slider after back-to-back walks gave the A’s their best scoring threat against him in the fourth inning. Kevin Smith swung at a first-pitch slider and flew out to right to end the inning.
The Tigers plated two runs in the next inning, ending their 28-inning scoreless streak, and Skubal cruised from there.
“I just wanted to get back in the dugout and let the guys swing,” said Skubal, who now has 34 strikeouts and just six walks over 33 2/3 innings. “No one wants to play defense in long innings, so my job was just get [them] back in the dugout and get comfortable swinging.”
It was the only inning in which Skubal faced multiple baserunners. He picked up his defense again in the seventh after a Smith blooper fell in front of Derek Hill for a one-out double. Skubal induced a comebacker from Elvis Andrus and looked immediately to second, where Smith was well off base. The resulting rundown started a 1-6-5-4 double play that ended the threat and gave Skubal the Tigers’ longest start of the season.