Detroit — Tarik Skubal, in his third start back after arthroscopic elbow surgery, struck out nine in six innings Wednesday. His four-seam fastball hit 99.6 mph and sat at a season-best 97.5 mph.
With his changeup, he got 12 misses on 19 swings.
He looked like his Cy Young self. Almost.
The outing was spoiled by three home runs, the last a two-run shot by Jasson Dominguez in the sixth inning that sent the New York Yankees on to a series-claiming 4-2 win over the Tigers at Comerica Park.
Skubal has given up six home runs in 16.1 innings in his last three starts.
Paul Goldschmidt, an old nemesis, walloped two solo homers. He led off the game driving a 3-1 fastball into the Tigers’ bullpen in left field. With two outs in the third, he launched a curveball located at the bottom of the strike zone over the fence in left.
That blast came two batters after Skubal appeared to tweak something in his groin area.
After striking out Austin Wells with a wicked curveball, he suffered a minor injury after his legs crossed on his follow through. He ended up being doubled over behind the mound, prompting assistant athletic trainer Kelly Rhodes and manager AJ Hinch to hustle out of the dugout.
Skubal threw a practice pitch and stayed in the game, though he didn’t immediately look comfortable.
BOX SCORE: Yankees 4, Tigers 2
One batter later, Goldschmidt took him deep. It was the second time Goldschmidt hit two homers off Skubal in the same game.
He did when he played for the Cardinals on Aug. 25, 2021.
Skubal, after getting some treatment between innings, locked it in, setting down 11 straight batters.
But, after finally getting Goldschmidt out, striking him out with a 99.6-mph fastball after a nine-pitch battle, he gave up a single to lefty Ben Rice.
Skubal got ahead of Dominguez 0-2 but couldn’t put him away. The ninth pitch of the at-bat was a 3-2 changeup that stayed in the middle of the plate. Dominguez, who Skubal had already struck out twice and had hit just two homers all season, didn’t miss it.
This was Skubal’s first start on regular four days of rest. Hinch said he was going to be wary of his pitch-count and stress level. Skubal was done after 85 pitches.
The Tigers’ bats, meanwhile, were subdued by lefty Ryan Weathers and the Yankees’ bullpen.
A two-out RBI single by lefty-swinging Zach McKinstry in the second and a sacrifice fly by rookie Ben Malgeri in the fourth was the extent of the damage against him.
The Tigers (34-46) didn’t put a runner in scoring position against relievers Camilo Doval, Fernando Cruz and closer David Bednar.
This story will be updated.
Chris.McCosky@detroitnews.com
@cmccosky
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Tigers’ Skubal strikes out nine but allows three homers in loss to Yankees
Reporting by Chris McCosky, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Chris McCosky, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
