The finale and rubber match of a three-game weekend series against the Phillies in Detroit promised a sensational showdown of starting pitchers. The game lived up to its billing for a while, but a decisive inning filled with infield singles proved the difference in a 5-0 Phillies win.
In the white-and-navy corner was Tarik Skubal, who’s having a very-good-but-not-Skubalesque-great year. His past few outings have been on the short side, and have also featured him giving up more than a couple home runs.
He’s still been striking ‘em out, though: in his previous four starts he’s struck out no fewer than eight batters.
In the grey-and-red corner was Zack Wheeler, who’s in his seventh season in Philadelphia. All seven of those seasons have been, as the kids would say, “bangers” — in every season except for one, his ERA has been under 3; he walks relatively few; he gives up a miniscule number of home runs; he’s been a Cy Young runner-up twice. He was a late addition to the All-Star Game on Tuesday, but on Saturday he announced he declined the invitation. Interesting.
There weren’t any baserunners until one out in the top of the second when Skubal walked Edmundo Sosa, not exactly a walking-machine, on four pitches. The first hit of the day belonged to Riley Greene, a leadoff single in the bottom of the same inning — but Spencer Torkelson, as he did twice on Saturday, grounded into a double play.
In the third Skubal hit JT Realmuto to lead off; he took second on a groundout and scored on a Kyle Schwarber single to left to make it 1-0.
Things stayed quiet for both teams until the top of the fifth when, with one out, a Phillies single and a double put two runners into scoring position. Skubal then struck out Trea Turner for the second out, and then faced the dangerous Kyle Schwarber and got him to strike out on an up-and-in 99-mph fastball. Nails.
The top of the sixth was a rough one, and the difference in the game. After a long at-bat, Bryce Harper hit an infield single; that was the end of Skubal’s day, and Keider Montero was brought in. A grounder up the middle ticked off Montero’s glove; there was a decent chance it would’ve been a double play. A sacrifice bunt pushed the runners up to second and third with one out; Brandon Marsh was intentionally walked, and Derek Hill struck out for the second out. The big blow was JT Realmuto’s double that cleared the bases and put the Phillies up 4-0; he took third on a throw that got away, and came home on another infield single for a 5-0 lead. Realmuto’s hit was the only hard-hit ball of the inning, and yet, four runs came in. “Better lucky than good,” as the saying goes.
Montero settled down but the Tigers couldn’t get their offence in gear at all, either against the tough Wheeler or the Phillies’ bullpen. There weren’t a lot of noteworthy Tigers highlights, so here’s one of a pair of glove-flip plays that Zach McKinstry pulled off.
I guess it’s worth mentioning that Beau Brieske got into the game again today. What’s that, three appearances in the last four games? It’d be great to have him back in the bullpen giving the Tigers some shutdown innings.
After the All-Star Game the Tigers head out to southern California for a three-game weekend series against the Angels. Here’s hoping a little rest and relaxation does them good.
Final score: Phillies 5, Tigers 0
Numbers and Notes
- In 2024, both Tarik Skubal and Zack Wheeler led their respective leagues in WAR (Baseball Reference’s version, anyway). Wins Above Replacement can be a little finnicky for pitchers, but whatever way you slice it, they were both pretty darn good that year.
- Skubal’s left-right splits this year have been very strange: right-handed hitters (210 plate appearances) have hit .198 with a .600 OPS against him coming into today’s game. Left-handers (66 PA) have hit .281 with a .772 OPS. Weird.
- The Tigers placed Framber Valdez on the Bereavement Leave list today, which suggests the starting rotation might be slightly shuffled after the All-Star Break.
- Saw a thing on Instagram where they asked various Tigers TV people what album they’d listen to, if they had to only listen to one. Benetti picked something obscure, Dirks said he didn’t listen to full albums, and Petry listed a Zac Brown Band album. Me? I’d probably go with Meddle by Pink Floyd or OK Computer by Radiohead.
- On this day (approximately) in 100 BCE, Julis Caesar was born. Do you remember that thing a couple of years ago, talking about how men apparently think about the Roman Empire a lot? Well, I’m a dude, and I don’t really think about it all that much, so there. (I do think about the Battle of Hastings a lot, though.)
