The News’ Tony Paul gives his quick takes on the Tigers’ 4-2 loss to the Yankees on Wednesday:
One thing I loved
The biggest star in a Tigers uniform Wednesday was a 7-year-old named Matt Evitts, who was given the royal treatment by the ballclub through the Make-A-Wish program.
Matt, who is undergoing treatment for leukemia, was signed to a one-day contract with the team, announced at the pregame press conference by manager AJ Hinch, who presented him with a No. 17 home orange alternate jersey. And that was just the start of a day Matt, of Fowlerville, will never forget.
He got to mingle with the players, warm up with Tarik Skubal in the bullpen (what a heater!), take some swings in the cage, and throw out the ceremonial first pitch. He even signed some autographs and did a half-inning in the television broadcast booth with Jason Benetti and Andy Dirks.
With the Tigers about to hit the halfway point of the regular season — Game No. 81 is Thursday night in the series opener against the Houston Astros at Comerica Park — there haven’t been nearly as many wins as we expected. A second straight loss to the Yankees dropped the Tigers to 34-46.
But even on a night that they lost, the Tigers delivered a big win for Matt.
One thing I didn’t
In three starts since returning from arthroscopic surgery on his left elbow, Skubal has had no issues with his velocity. But he’s had a bit of an issue keeping the baseball in the ballpark.
In the three starts, the Tigers ace and two-time Cy Young winner has allowed six home runs, including two his last start and three more Wednesday night. It marked the sixth time in Skubal’s major-league career that he’s allowed three home runs in a game (he’s never allowed four or more). The first five instances all happened in 2021.
Paul Goldschmdit, who’s apparently found the Fountain of Youth at age 38, got Skubal twice in his first two at-bats. It’s his second two-homer game against Skubal. The four homers are the most of any play against Skubal.
Skubal allowed two home runs in his first seven starts this season, before having the elbow surgery in early June.
By the way, only four different players have been older than Goldschmidt when they’ve hit multiple home runs out of the leadoff spot (three Hall-of-Famers did it multiple times). Here’s that list, per MLB stat guru Sarah Langs:
Three stars
(Season total in parentheses)
Hao-Yu Lee (7)
Spencer Torkelson (12)
Max Schuemann — The Portage Northern and Eastern Michigan alum covered a lot of ground in center field, making a couple dandy running catches to cut off a potential Tigers rally in the bottom of the fifth inning. Schuemann was a 20th-round pick by the A’s in 2018, and is in his first season with the Yankees.
Player of the game
Paul Goldschmidt
Tigers’ ABS tracker
Next Tigers game
Game 81: Astros at Tigers, 6:40 Thursday, Detroit SportsNet, 97.1
ICYMI: Yesterday’s Tigers recap
tpaul@detroitnews.com
@tonypaul1984
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Detroit Tigers, Game 80: One thing I loved, one thing I didn’t
Reporting by Tony Paul, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Tony Paul, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
