Anaheim, Calif. — Tarik Skubal was punching out hitters and dancing off the mound after innings. Spencer Torkelson was sending baseballs out to the unique landscaping way beyond the center-field wall at Angel Stadium. Kevin McGonigle was doing Ty Cobb-type stuff.
The Tigers had themselves a grand time Saturday night, beating the Los Angeles Angels, 7-0, and inching up in both the AL Central Division standings (5½ games back) and the wild-card race (3.5 games back).
“There’s definitely a different vibe in here,” Torkelson said. “I feel like we’re finally showing up to the yard and saying how are we going to win today. That’s the feeling we had a lot last year and late in 2024. You show up to the yard expecting to win. And when you’re going through it, it’s a feeling like, what’s going to happen today.
“We’re really prepared every day and we’re doing pretty good.”
McGonigle set the tone. He worked an eight-pitch at-bat against Angels starter Grayson Rodriguez, finishing it off with a sinking liner to center. The ball bounced away from a diving Mike Trout and McGonigle alertly turned it into a hustle double.
It sparked a four-run first inning, capped by the first of two monster home runs by Torkelson.
“I wasn’t happy with the way it went yesterday,” McGonigle said of a rare 0-for-4 on Friday. “After yesterday, I really had to lock it back in and stay connected to my approach. Yesterday I fell away from that and that’s not good. I hold myself accountable about stuff like that. So it was good to go out tonight and put together some good at-bats.”
McGonigle singled again the second inning and has 101 hits in 95 games in his rookie season. He’s only the second player in Tigers history 21 years old or younger to have 100 hits in fewer than 100 games.
The other: Ty Cobb.
“I just found that out after the game,” McGonigle said. “My name being up there with Ty Cobb is something I never imagined. I am proud of myself so far with how much I’ve been able to help the team. All these hits come from wanting to help the team. That’s my mindset.”
BOX SCORE: Tigers 7, Angels 0
Torkelson was kicking himself Friday night for missing a couple of center-cut fastballs. He made no mistake on the a first-pitch middle heater from Rodriguez in the first inning, sending it 415 feet into the rocks in center field. The three-run homer was his 17th.
“Same plan, just got some good pitches to hit,” Torkelson said. “The guys in front of me did an unbelievable job having quality at-bats and we cashed in a run early. I felt like I was up there playing with house money.”
When he came up again to lead off the fifth, the Tigers were up 6-0 and Rodriguez was out of the game. Torkelson greeted lefty reliever Brent Suter by sending an 87.6-mph sinker 420 feet to center, this time clearing the bushes and landing on the berm.
“I was impressed with the first one,” manager AJ Hinch said. “That’s a knockout punch when you get out and score a quick run and we don’t let him off the hook. Four is a lot different than one. Tork delivered a big blow to get us off to an incredible start.”
Torkelson has 18 homers and 47 RBIs. And getting it to the rocks and the berm at Angel Stadium in one game — impressive.
And don’t sleep on Colt Keith’s contribution. He had four hits, scored a run and knocked in a run with a sacrifice fly.
All of which helped turn Cy Skub loose.
“You get a big lead and every 2-0 count you can challenge guys with fastballs and see if they can run it out of the yard,” Skubal said. “That’s the beauty of pitching with a lead. It changes how you call things. You can be more aggressive in the zone because it’s going to take a lot to beat you.”
Lead or no lead, Skubal seemed, after two straight frustrating (for him) five-inning starts, hellbent on some efficient domination. And that’s exactly what he provided. He struck out nine over seven innings in 87 pitches.
“It’s not going to change what I am on the mound,” he said. “I just didn’t think I was holding up my end of the deal lately. It’s not going to change much, it’s just frustrating. But I think the way you get deeper into games is to get ahead, throw first-pitch strikes and put guys away in three or four pitches.
“And the more you are in the zone, the more they start swinging.”
Skubal had everything working, evidenced by the 19 whiffs he got on 47 swings. He got 13 whiffs on 20 swings at his changeup. It was the third straight start that he got 19 whiffs.
“I was in a much better rhythm today,” he said. “Ding (catcher Dillon Dingler) called a great game, too, with where he was going with the pitches and the different uses of the fastball-changeup, going to it early in counts and late in counts.”
Skubal was dancing by the fourth inning. And why wouldn’t he after he struck out Trout (for the second time), Jorge Soler (for the second of three times) and Jo Adell (first of two).
He allowed five hits, all singles, with no walks and faced multiple runners in the same inning just once. That was in the sixth when Logan O’Hoppe (who had two hits) and Trout singled. But Skubal ended that by inducing a fast 6-4-3 double play from Vaughn Grissom.
“That was self-inflicted,” he said of the two, two-strike hits by O’Hoppe and Trout. “An 0-2 pitch really needs to be my pitch. I have so much leverage and you deliver a pitch that’s not where it needs to be and you do it twice — neither was hit hard but you see what happens, it just gives them a chance. Dingler came out and said, let’s get (Grissom) on the ground.
“It feels good when you say something and then actually do it. That’s doesn’t happen very often.”
Skubal didn’t allow a single hard-hit ball and the 15 balls the Angels put in play had an average exit velocity of 76.4 mph.
“He settled in good after the four-spot and he pounded the zone,” Hinch said. “He kept his edge and kept his intent at a really high level. He holds himself to such a high bar but he was very pitch-efficient. He went into attack mode.”
The Tigers (46-52) have won four of their last five series and are 24-14 since June 1.
“Winning the series is awesome,” Skubal said. “We’ve won the series here and we have an opportunity to sweep with our guy on the mound tomorrow (Casey Mize). I really like where we’re at right now.”
chris.mccosky@detroitnews.com
@cmccosky
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Tarik Skubal, Spencer Torkelson star in Tigers’ rout of Angels
Reporting by Chris McCosky, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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By Chris McCosky, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
