BOSTON – Once again, Detroit Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal looked like he might put his name in the history books. He carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning for the second start in a row.
From there, Skubal nearly imploded.
Twice.
The reigning two-time American League Cy Young winner loaded the bases with no outs in the fifth inning and put runners on the corners with no outs in the sixth inning. Uncharacteristic strike-throwing struggles created the trouble, but the damage was controlled to one run.
As Skubal bounced back both times, the Tigers held on for a 4-1 win over the Boston Red Sox on Saturday, April 18, in the second of four games in the series at Fenway Park. A three-run fourth inning made the difference, fueled by Kerry Carpenter’s home run.
With the win, the Tigers snapped their nine-game road losing streak, earning their first win away from Comerica Park since March 27 (against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park).
The Tigers took advantage of right-hander Brayan Bello, forcing him to throw 35 pitches (and scoring one run despite stranding the bases loaded) in the first inning, then chasing him at 84 pitches through four innings. He gave up four runs on five hits and three walks with four strikeouts.
Meanwhile, Skubal allowed one run on four hits and two walks with 10 strikeouts across five innings, throwing 89 pitches.
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He owns a 2.08 ERA in five starts.
The Tigers (11-10) and Red Sox (8-12) meet again Sunday (4:35 p.m., Detroit SportsNet) in a clash between left-handers: Framber Valdez for the Tigers and Garrett Crochet for the Red Sox. The series concludes with an 11:10 a.m. first pitch in Sunday’s game as part of the Patriots’ Day festivities.
In Saturday’s game, the Tigers grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first inning.
Kevin McGonigle (single), Colt Keith (single) and Riley Greene (walk) loaded the bases with two outs for Carpenter, who refused to chase an inside sinker from Bello that wasn’t close to the strike zone. He took the pitch for a bases-loaded walk for a 1-0 lead.
Carpenter sparked the three-run fourth inning, crushing Bello’s changeup at the bottom of the zone for a solo home run to right field. His fourth homer of the season pushed the lead to 2-0.
The Tigers kept the inning going with Wenceel Pérez’s walk and Javier Báez’s double for two runners in scoring position, followed by Jake Rogers’ sacrifice fly and Kevin McGonigle’s RBI single to make it 4-0.
The Red Sox scored their lone run in the fifth inning after loading the bases with Wilyer Abreu’s single, Ceddanne Rafaela’s double and Caleb Durbin’s walk. Connor Wong grounded into a double play, but it was enough to score the runner from third.
That cut the Tigers’ lead to 4-1.
Skubal didn’t let the situation get any worse – avoiding further damage in the fifth inning and escaping the jam in the sixth inning.
The 29-year-old retired the first nine batters before Roman Anthony opened the fourth inning with a four-pitch walk. The response? Three strikeouts in a row from Andruw Monasterio, Willson Contreras and Trevor Story. Skubal generated 19 whiffs on 43 swings – an incredible 44.2% whiff rate, including 12 whiffs on 16 swings with his changeup.
It was Skubal’s first start with double-digit strikeouts this season.
The Tigers reached the finish line with scoreless innings from left-handed reliever Tyler Holton in the seventh and eighth innings, followed by right-handed reliever Kenley Jansen in the ninth inning.
Holton owns a 0.96 ERA across 9⅓ innings in nine relief appearances this season.
Jansen has 481 saves in his 17-year MLB career.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Tarik Skubal dances with destruction in Tigers’ 4-1 win over Red Sox
Reporting by Evan Petzold, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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