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Tarik Skubal dazzles as Tigers take series from Royals

Chris McCosky, The Detroit News on

Published in Baseball

DETROIT — You start running out of ways to describe Tarik Skubal’s dominance.

The Tigers’ left-hander gave up a double and single to the first two batters of the game and then proceeded to disassemble a red-hot Royals lineup over seven innings helping the Tigers take the series with the Central Division rival Kansas City, 4-1 Sunday at Comerica Park.

Skubal is now 4-0 on the year, lowering his ERA to 1.82 and his league-low WHIP to 0.74.

The run was set up by a slow bouncer by leadoff hitter Maikel Garcia that eluded third baseman Matt Vierling and rolled into the left-field corner. Bobby Witt, Jr., followed, dropping a 1-2 changeup into center for an RBI single.

Skubal then ripped off 14 straight outs. The Royals mustered only two more hits and a walk off him after the first inning.

It seemed he was searching for his changeup in the first two innings, but he started getting a feel for it in the fourth and then leaned on it hard the rest of the game. Once he had that pitch, the Royals seemed overmatched.

In the sixth inning, Skubal punched out Garcia, throwing him three straight changeups. Then, he went to battle against Witt. He started him off slow, with a knuckle-curve and a changeup. But with the count to 2-1, Skubal went mano a mano. He threw him three straight four-seam fastballs — 96 mph, foul; 97 mph, foul, 99 mph — strike three swinging.

In the seventh inning he threw six straight changeups. Two straight to strike out Nelson Velazquez and then four straight to punch out Freddy Fermin.

Skubal, who finished with six strikeouts, got 11 whiffs on 20 swings at his changeup.

 

Shelby Miller pitched a clean eighth inning and Jason Foley, for the second straight game, ran into a spot of bother in the ninth before earning his ninth save.

Like Saturday night, the first two Royals hitters reached — walk to Salvador Perez and single by pinch-hitter Michael Massey. But Foley got Vinnie Pasquantino to ground out to first, and struck out MJ Melendez and Dairon Blanco.

Rookie outfielder Wenceel Perez nullified the Royals' lone run by launching his first big-league home run, a two-run shot, in the bottom of the first inning. He stayed back on a 1-0 changeup that Royals starter Michael Wacha left up and over the plate.

Perez put it in orbit, a towering fly ball that easily cleared the wall in right field.

The Tigers scratched across another run in the third on a sacrifice fly by Riley Greene. Jake Rogers singled and went to third on an opposite-field double to left by Parker Meadows.

Rogers finished Wacha’s outing with a two-out, opposite-field home run to right-center in the sixth.

This is the first time the Tigers won back-to-back home games this season.


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