Masterful Skubal K's 10, keeps Boston's bats quiet

BOSTON -- After taking a no-hitter into the sixth inning in his last start, Tarik Skubal was nearly perfect through four innings against the Red Sox on Saturday in yet another masterful performance from the Tigers’ ace.

Detroit would go on to win the game, 4-1, halting a nine-game road losing streak in the process.

“Yeah, definitely,” said third baseman Kevin McGonigle when asked about having Skubal on the hill in this situation. “The best pitcher in baseball.”

“I don't think any of us in here are too concerned about our road record,” said Skubal. “Obviously, it needs to get better and needs to improve. We need to win games on the road but it's such a small sample size. … We're just trying to win every single day we show up to the yard.”

The reigning back-to-back Cy Young winner earned the advantage against Boston’s hitters by throwing nine first-pitch strikes to the first 13 batters he faced. Working with his changeup, Skubal managed to get 12 swinging strikes on 15 pitches.

“It performed better today,” Skubal said about his off-speed offering. “I still think there's some room for improvement to be able to throw it in the zone and out of the zone when I need and execute some pictures out of the zone earlier in counts to where there's not six pitch, seven pitch at bats.”

He struck out four straight batters, including the side in the second inning, and the first baserunner he allowed was a leadoff walk in the fourth inning. Skubal quickly erased that mistake by striking out the next three batters, giving him a season-high eight punchouts to that point. He would finish with 10 strikeouts, the 18th time in his career that he pulled double-digit strikeouts from his opponent.

Boston’s bats finally broke through in the fifth, opening the frame with a single and a double. Skubal then allowed a walk to load the bases, but forced a double play and a flyout to get out of the inning with only one run allowed.

Skubal again allowed the first two batters of the sixth inning to collect hits against him, but he retired three straight to get out of the jam, ending his evening after six superb innings.

“He had to pitch to a couple of innings of stress on his own,” explained manager A.J. Hinch. “So, on the one end we win a battle, on the other end we win another battle on defense.”

“The fifth was kind of self-inflicted with the four-pitch walk mixed in there with a couple knocks,” noted Skubal. “Same with the sixth. I’ve got to do better later in games, getting ahead and staying aggressive and not beating myself.”

The southpaw, whose ERA dropped from 2.22 to 2.08, has not allowed a home run in four of five starts.

This was the fourth start this season in which Skubal lasted at least six innings while allowing six hits or fewer. It was also the fourth time that he allowed an earned run or fewer.

After being held scoreless over 10 innings in Friday night’s series opener, the Tigers’ offense wasted little time in backing their starter, getting a crooked number on the board when Kerry Carpenter drew a bases-loaded walk in the first inning. The right fielder also sparked a three-run fourth inning with a solo home run, his fourth of the season.

“I think we did a really good job taking the tough pitches in the first inning just making [starter Brayan Bello] come to the heart of the plate,” said leadoff hitter Kevin McGonigle, who went 2-for-5 with a run and RBI.

“It was a well-played game all around,” added Hinch. “I thought our at-bats were really tough early. We made [Bello] work and drove his pitch count up quite a bit.”

Earning the win, Skubal improved to 3-2 on the year and is tied for sixth in the Majors with 33 strikeouts in 30 1/3 innings of work.