It was a perfect day for the Detroit Tigers.
Left-hander Tarik Skubal carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning, shortstop Kevin McGonigle blasted the first home run of his career and the Tigers completed a three-game sweep.
The Tigers secured an 8-2 win over the Miami Marlins on Sunday, April 12, in the series finale at Comerica Park, with Skubal and catcher Dillon Dingler leading the way.
Skubal didn’t allow a hit until there were two outs in the sixth inning.
The Tigers (7-9) have won three games in a row – all against the Marlins (8-8) – after snapping a five-game losing streak. The next chance to build upon the winning streak comes Tuesday (6:40 p.m., Detroit SportsNet) at home against the Kansas City Royals.
In Sunday’s game, Skubal put runners on base for the Marlins with a walk to Austin Slater in the fourth inning and a hit-by-pitch to Connor Norby in the fifth inning.
There wasn’t a hit until the sixth inning.
That’s when Slater – a right-handed hitter who spent the spring with the Tigers and one who thrives against left-handed pitchers – slapped Skubal’s middle-in 98.2 mph four-seam fastball for a bloop single into center field with two outs in the sixth. He didn’t hit the ball hard, but he found green grass.
Skubal – the reigning two-time American League Cy Young winner – allowed one run on two hits and two walks (and one hit-by-pitch) with seven strikeouts across 6⅔ innings, throwing 96 pitches.
The 29-year-old owns a 2.22 ERA through four starts, aiming to continue his multi-season dominance after a 2.39 ERA in 31 starts in 2024 and a 2.21 ERA in 2025.
The only other hit against Skubal occurred in the seventh inning, as Allen PArk and Central Michigan alumnus Jakob Marsee skied an elevated two-strike changeup down the right-field line that should’ve been caught. The ball dropped just beyond the reach of left fielder Kerry Carpenter, resulting in a triple.
The exit velocities on the two hits?
It was 65.9 mph from Slater and 85.9 mph from Marsee.
Meanwhile, the Tigers shredded Marlins right-hander Sandy Alcantara to help Skubal win the pitching duel between aces.
Alcantara, the 2022 National League Cy Young winner, surrendered seven runs on 10 hits and two walks with four strikeouts across six innings, throwing 100 pitches. The 30-year-old has a 2.67 ERA after four starts, though he entered with a 0.74 ERA in his first three starts before the Tigers tagged him for seven runs.
The scoring began in the first inning.
With two outs, Colt Keith and Riley Greene produced back-to-back singles – then Dingler capitalized in a two-strike count for his third home run in 14 games. He pulled Alcantara’s inside changeup that ran directly into his bat path for a three-run homer to left field.
The big swing put the Tigers ahead, 3-0.
Alcantara settled down for a few innings, then the Tigers piled on with four runs across the fifth and sixth innings.
In the fifth, McGonigle hit a solo home run. In the sixth, Carpenter crushed a two-run home run after Greene’s single and Javier Báez delivered an RBI single after singles from Spencer Torkelson and Zach McKinstry.
All of those swings helped increase the Tigers’ lead to 7-0.
IT’S A McCELEBRATION WITH OUR NEW PAGE PRINT!
The home run from McGonigle marked the first of his MLB career, as he hit a first-pitch, middle-middle 97.3 mph fastball from Alcantara. The 21-year-old – the consensus No. 2 prospect in baseball – pulled the ball 408 feet to right-center field with a 108.8 mph exit velocity.
He finished 3-for-4 with one walk in Sunday’s game, recording a flyout in the first inning but a single in the third, homer in the fifth, walk in the sixth and single in the eighth.
McGonigle is hitting .322 with a .920 OPS across 16 games.
The Marlins scored their first run in the seventh inning, when Otto Lopez followed Marsee’s triple with a sacrifice fly.
Skubal left two outs and a runner on first base after walking Heriberto Hernández for right-handed reliever Kyle Finnegan, who completed the seventh without further damage. When Skubal exited, the fans gave him a standing ovation.
It was his first start at Comerica Park since Sept. 10, 2025.
The Tigers have had four starters in a row – right-hander Jack Flaherty (Thursday vs. Minnesota Twins), right-hander Keider Montero (Friday vs. Marlins), right-hander Casey Mize (Saturday vs. Marlins) and Skubal (Sunday vs. Marlins) – complete at least 5⅔ innings without allowing more than one run, creating the longest streak since doing so in five consecutive games during the 2013 season.
After Skubal shoved, the Tigers relied on two relievers to get to the finish line: Finnegan for 1⅓ innings and right-handed reliever Connor Seabold for one inning.
The Tigers extended their lead to 8-1 in the eighth inning, sparked by McGonigle with two outs. He slapped a single, advanced from first-to-third on Gleyber Torres’ single and scored on a wild pitch from right-handed reliever Tyler Phillips.
Seabold gave up a home run to Lopez in the ninth, making it 8-2.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Tarik Skubal flirts with no-hitter in Tigers’ 8-2 win to sweep Marlins
Reporting by Evan Petzold, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
