On the series wrap-up day between the Tigers and the Guardians (until its sequel next week), the Tigers were hoping to come away with at least one win against their too-close-for-comfort rivals. They were thankful to have their ace, Tarik Skubal, back on the mound after he left his last start in Miami early. The Guardians, meanwhile, were relying on Tanner Bibee, so this game had the ingredients to be a real pitchers’ duel.
In the top of the first, Angel Martinez got a one-out walk, which was followed
by a Jose Ramirez single. After a brief on-field delay, two outs followed, getting Skubal and the Tigers out of the inning. In the home half, Gleyber Torres got a one-out walk, but in memories of yesterday, the Tigers weren’t able to bring him home.
Jhonkensy Noel opened the second with a single. Then Brayan Rocchio singled to put two men on. Skubal once again managed to turn things around with two runners on and get three out in a row to end the inning. Spencer Torkelson doubled to start the home half, followed by a Wenceel Perez single that bumped Torkelson to third. Colt Keith then doubled, bringing Tork home and getting the Tigers on the board.
Dillon Dingler reached on a fielder’s choice that saw Perez tagged out at home. Two more outs followed to end the inning, but at least it wouldn’t be another shutout. At the end of the inning, though, Colt Keith left the game, looking to be in some discomfort.
In the top of the third, the Guardians went 1-2-3. Then, in the bottom of the inning, Torres got a leadoff single, but three outs followed.
With one out in the top of the fourth, Noel homered, tying the game 1-1. Then, with two outs, Skubal gave up back-to-back singles to Austin Hedges and Nolan Jones before finally collecting the third out of the inning. In the home half the Tigers went 1-2-3.
Skubal was back in his zone in the fifth, getting the Guardians out in order. The Tigers, in the bottom of the inning, got a one-out walk from Parker Meadows, who then stole second, but no runs scored.
With two outs in the sixth, Rocchio tripled. Austin Hedges then drew a walk. Neither runner scored, but it certainly wasn’t the best outing we’d seen from Skubal this year. His day was done after the sixth, going 6.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 9 K, 1 HR on 102 pitches. The Tigers went out in order in the home half.
Troy Melton replaced Skubal for the seventh and gave up a one-out walk to Angel Martinez. Jose Ramirez then homered, bringing in two runs and taking the score to 3-1. Gabriel Arias got a one-out single, then advanced to second on a wild pitch before Melton finally got the third out. Tim Herrin replaced Bibee in the bottom of the inning and gave up a leadoff walk to a pinch-hitting Andy Ibanez. Dingler then lined into a double play to eliminate the baserunner. A strikeout ended the inning with the Tigers still hunting for a comeback.
Melton got the first two outs in the eighth before turning things over to Tyler Holton, who collected the final out. Kolby Allard came in to face the Tigers in the home half. Torres got a one-out walk, but then got eliminated in a force out off the bat of Kerry Carpenter. A Greene strikeout ended the inning. Once again, the Tigers were leaving it to their last chance to get the rally going.
Martinez got a one-out single in the top of the ninth, but two outs followed, so it was up to the Tigers in their final chance to make something happen. They’d be doing it against Hunter Gaddis. Spencer Torkelson got things going with a leadoff single. However, Perez grounded into a double play to eliminate the runner and automatically add two outs. An Ibanez pop-up then ended the game, and the Tigers were swept.
