ATLANTA -- There is an art to pitching where a pitcher can get hitters to take bad swings at pitches that turn into lazy fly balls or routine groundouts. Tarik Skubal put on that kind of performance on Wednesday against the Braves, the team with the best record in the Majors, crafting his latest art piece.
“I would love to go out there and strike every single guy out, but I think I'd probably find myself being done pitching after about three or four innings, just with pitch counts and stuff,” Skubal said on Tuesday. “That's part of being a starter, you have to pitch deeper in the games, and now you need to get swing and miss when you need to, in certain situations. But for the most part, a nice routine ground ball for me on a first or second pitch is just as good as a strikeout.”
By his own definition, Skubal delivered in the Tigers’ 4-3 loss at Truist Park. The reigning American League Cy Young Award winner worked seven innings, allowing five hits -- four singles -- while striking out seven on 91 pitches. He leaned on his four-seam fastball while mixing in a changeup, sinker and slider.
Detroit backed that approach, turning two double plays and retiring nine batters on groundouts. Both double plays were started by Colt Keith with him also making a nice play on a grounder by Ozzie Albies in the third.
“We played really good defense, which is what you want to do behind Tarik, and if they are going to make contact, which this is a high contact team you got to make the plays we did, and he put us in a position to win.” manager A.J Hinch said.
Skubal opened by striking out Ronald Acuña Jr. on a foul tip, but after a single by Drake Baldwin, Albies jumped on a 95.7 mph fastball up in the zone that Skubal barely missed. He drove it a Statcast-projected 400 feet to left field for a two-run homer, giving the Braves a 2-0 lead in the first inning.
“They ambushed him with the homer. Albies swung the bat very well, right-handed. And [Skubal] stayed in there and was able to get better. As the game went on, it looked like his stuff got a little bit better. His execution got a little bit better,” Hinch said.
Detroit answered in the second. Wenceel Pérez doubled to open the inning and Jace Jung walked. With two outs, Kevin McGonigle lined a single to center to score Pérez, and Jung later came home on a throwing error by JR Ritchie on a pickoff attempt to tie the game.
In the third, Riley Greene delivered the go-ahead swing. He got out in front of an 87.9 mph changeup and drove it 417 feet to straightaway center field, the ball leaving his bat at 106.2 mph to give Detroit a 3-2 lead.
Skubal struck out Acuña in all three of his plate appearances, including punchouts in the third and sixth, and continued to work efficiently through the heart of Atlanta’s order.
There was a brief moment of concern in the seventh.
Facing Olson, Skubal appeared to shake out discomfort after throwing a 96 mph sinker for a strike. He signaled for Dillon Dingler to come to the mound and briefly handed him his glove.
“I don't really know how to explain it, I just needed a little bit of time. That's why I kind of called Ding out. And then the symptoms that I experienced on the one throw went away, and obviously it felt pretty good after that,” Skubal said.
“I ran out there to make sure that everything was okay. It hasn't been a great last 24 hours for us medically,” said Hinch with Javier Báez and Casey Mize being placed in the IL earlier today. “He had a funny feeling on the outside of his arm, then he wanted to throw a pitch, and then he punched out the side. So we felt good about the way he ended but certainly not fun walking out to the mound.”
Skubal stayed in and finished his outing, striking out the side on a 97 mph fastball, a 96.9 mph fastball and an 81.1 mph curveball -- his only curveball of the night.
“Defense picked me up. I gave up two, and our offense came right back too, [but] obviously it came up a little short in the end,” Skubal said. "It's the game of baseball. There's ebbs and flows. First time through, I got hit around today. You got to make adjustments. I think Ding called a great game, and we kind of audible there and got him off the heater, and then we were able to reestablish the heater there in the seventh inning, and got a ton of misses. I would rather trust my track record than seven starts.”