Skubal frustrated by rare off night in last 1st-half start

DETROIT -- Contrary to his high-adrenaline persona, Tarik Skubal has worked to contain his emotions a bit this season, at least the negative ones. The glove tosses in the dugout that used to punctuate his rougher outings have been out of sight as Skubal has tried to save his rare flashes of frustration for the dugout tunnel.

Yet as Skubal descended the steps to the dugout, having seen Julio Rodríguez’s two-run homer put an exclamation point on Seattle’s go-ahead three-run fifth inning, the reigning American League Cy Young winner had his glove in his mighty left hand ready to toss as soon as manager A.J. Hinch shook his right hand to mark the end of his outing.

The hand that unleashed a 102.6 mph fastball to complete a shutout six weeks ago produced an underhand toss of a glove against the dugout wall, followed quickly by a right-hand toss of his cap.

“I was pretty frustrated the whole day,” Skubal said after Friday’s 12-3 loss. “You try to not let the game get you mentally, but it kind of got me a little bit mentally today. That’s probably what I’m most disappointed about. Physically, I’m ready to go. Just couldn’t get in the zone early. It’s not lack of effort or whatever. Just frustrated, and sometimes you have to let those things out.

“If you don’t, it’ll carry into the next day, and that’s the last thing [you want]. You don’t want these things to compound. You just need to get it out and move on and learn from it and come out the other side a better person."

The recent rarity of such a sight is a testament to what the Mariners have done against the former University of Seattle great.

Friday marked the first defeat for Skubal (10-3) since April 2, when the M’s beat him in Seattle. Friday’s four runs pushed Skubal’s season total to 30 over 19 starts, seven of them in two meetings with the Mariners. The five innings matched his shortest outing of the season, and marked his first outing without an out recorded in the sixth inning since April 20 against the Royals.

Skubal was originally in line to pitch Saturday, but he was moved up a day, partly to give fellow All-Star Casey Mize an extra day, partly to allow Skubal to prepare for next Tuesday’s All-Star Game on three days' rest. Skubal had been effective in a handful of starts on what is normally standard four days’ rest this season, including his shutout of Cleveland in May. But from the outset Friday, Skubal seemed off. He faced 2-0 counts to eight of his 21 batters and issued multiple walks for just the fourth time this season.

“It was an off night for him,” Hinch said. “It looked like he was fighting himself pretty much from the get-go, which we don’t see very often. It’s a good reminder these guys are human, and they’re going to have some of these games that they’re not at their best.”

Skubal overcame the first walk by striking out Rodríguez and Cal Raleigh to end the third inning. He nearly overcame the second free pass, retiring two batters after Donovan Solano battled for an eight-pitch walk to lead off the fifth. But a 2-0 count to J.P. Crawford turned into a two-out RBI single through the left side, putting the M’s in front and extending the inning for Rodríguez.

Skubal put Rodríguez in an 0-2 count, but followed with back-to-back changeups -- the first in the dirt, the second elevated over the middle of the plate. Rodríguez crushed the latter for his 12th home run of the year and a 4-1 lead.

“He likes the changeup,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said of Skubal before the game. “That's a big pitch for him. I think the key against a guy like this is he doesn't make many mistakes, and when he does, you need to make him pay. And that's what grinding on your at-bats is all about.”

The Mariners have made him pay twice this season, but Skubal saw Friday as self-inflicted.

“My last start there was a good start. I thought I had pitched pretty well; stat line was probably a little misleading,” he said. “Today I don’t think the stat line was misleading. If anything, I probably benefited from it a little bit.”

It came in his final tuneup for the All-Star Game, but when asked about his preparation from here, Skubal said: “First you have to figure out if I’m going to pitch, make sure I feel good tomorrow, and then have those conversations. I don’t think it’s any different; it’s going to be one inning, or whatever it is. You’re going to be ready to go.”