A pitching duel ends in a Royals victory after they scratch out the game’s only run late.
Tarik Skubal’s last outing was the most impressive Maddux ever pitched, as he threw 9 scoreless frames with 2 hits and 13 strikeouts on just 94 pitches. On Saturday he faced a Royals team that lost game one of the weekend series by a 7-5 score to fall even farther behind in the AL Central race. The Tigers, winners of 5 straight, looked to win another one and push that lead even higher. The game was delayed a bit as the Royals celebrated the career of Mike Moustakas.
The Royals started veteran righty journeyman Michael Wacha, having another impressive season. He was coming off of a rough outing his last time out, giving up 4 runs in 5 innings against the Minnesota Twins . The Tigers were aggressive early but with poor results, as the first three up all flied out on 8 pitches.
Skubal started by getting Jonathan India to ground out. Bobby Witt Jr, the most dangerous Royals hitter, battled but struck out swinging. Salvador Perez grounded out softly and that was that.
Wacha was living up to his end of the pitching matchup, striking out the side. Skubal matched him with another runnerless inning. The pitching duel was on.
After Wacha mowed down three more Tigers, Skubal pitched the bottom of the 3rd. He struck out Vinnie Pasquantino but the catcher, Freddy Fermin, became the game’s first baserunner when he slapped a single to right. That made Tarik angry, so he struck out the next two batters.
The Tigers finally got on base in the 4th. After a Kerry Carpenter popup, Gleyber Torres worked a walk. Colt Keith flied out, leaving it up to Riley Greene and his uppercut swing. He fouled off a bunch of pitches but ultimately grounded out.
Skubal got Witt Jr to line out on a ball that Carpenter misjudged but managed to snag with some athleticism. Perez was frozen on a perfect pitch after a high fastball changed his eye level, then Maikel Garcia grounded out. Through four innings, each team had a single baserunner and the Tigers were being no-hit. Just a bit different from yesterday’s slugfest.
No more baserunners for the Tigers in the 5th. The no-hitter alert was officially out.
With one out in the bottom of the frame, Nick Loftin hit a bloop single. He tried stealing second but a ferocious throw from Dingler had him dead to rights. A strikeout ended the inning and still not a single baserunner had gotten into scoring position.
Sweeney dropped down a foul bunt attempt and the crowd booed him heavily. He then flew out, to cheers. Baez and Carpenter also failed to reach, and the Tigers had been no-hit through 6 innings.
Sweeney made a ranging play to snag a tough grounder, getting Fermin by half a step. A flyout and groundout followed and it was time for the 7th in a scoreless game. The tension was ramping up.
With the Tigers still looking for their first hit, Torres grounded out on a bang-bang play at first. Keith, sick of this no-hitter talk, sliced a single to the outfield to finally end it. Greene hit a ball to left that looked like it was going to drop for a bloop hit but left fielder Loftin came running in and made an excellent running catch, nearly doubling Colt off at first. Sadly, Tork hit a ball right at the shortstop, who forced out Keith. Inning over, but the Tigers were no longer on the no-hitter watch. Wacha’s day was done at 99 pitches and an incredible performance, striking out six Tigers.
Skubal came back out and retired the side with little drama. Perez and Skubal shared a laugh as the veteran acknowledged the younger man’s pitching. AJ Hinch gave him the handshake once he returned the dugout so his day was done as well. Seven innings, two singles, 7 strikeouts. Another brilliant performance.
Former Tiger John Schreiber came on in relief in the 8th. Perez popped out. Dingler went 0-2 before Schreiber dropped in back-to-back strikes that the umpire called balls, although both were clearly strikes. It mattered because Dingler was able to work a walk when it should have been an out. Sweeney struck out swinging. Javy Baez was up to bat and the ump missed another egregious call, calling an obvious strike a ball. If I was a KC fan I’d be frothing at the mouth right about then. However, Schreiber did his job, striking out Javy swinging.
The Tigers turned to Beau Brieske in relief. He got a pinch-hitting Drew Waters to fly out but then ran into trouble. Loftin, a pest all game though only defensively to this point, hit a double over Greene’s head. Pasquantino singled softly to left field, driving in a run as Greene’s throw home was nowhere close. Brieske avoided further damage, but the Tigers were suddenly down 1-0 with three outs remaining.
Carlos Estévez came in to close out the game for the Royals. Carpenter quickly popped out. Torres flied out. Keith, the only Tigers batter with a hit, was the last chance. With jaws clenched all over, Colt hit a solid groundball single through the infield, bringing up Greene. He immediately grounded out to first, ending the game.
The Tigers end up losing a pitcher’s duel where one bullpen mistake made the difference. Game three of the series is tomorrow afternoon in KC.
RHP Keider Montero takes on LHP Kris Bubic at 2:10 p.m. ET to decide the three-game set.