Tigers 8, Astros 2: A grand victory

Kerry Carpenter and Tarik Skubal both had incredible nights.

Say what you will about the City Connect jerseys (I hate them), but they seemed to serve the Tigers well tonight as they squared off against the Astros . Tarik Skubal was on the mound for the Tigers and Cristian Javier for the Astros, and one of them did VERY badly, and it wasn’t Skubal.

Let’s take a look at how things went inning-by-inning.

Skubal started things off right, setting the Astros down in order to start the game. In the bottom of the first Mark Canha and Wenceel Perez got back-to-back walks with one out, But, despite both runners advancing into scoring position, the Tigers left them both stranded.

The Astros went 1-2-3 again. The Tigers, though, they weren’t going to go another inning without a score. Colt Keith singled to start things off, then stole second base. Zach McKinstry got a one-out walk, then Jake Rogers singled to load the bases. Riley Greene walked to get the first runner over, and just showed how rough Javier was having it tonight. Just no command whatsoever, it was hard to watch. With the bases still loaded, Mark Canha then hit a grand slam to empty them.

Wenceel Perez doubled, followed by a Kerry Carpenter home run to bring two more home. That was it for Javier. Tayler Scott got the next two outs, but the Tigers were up 7-0 at the end of two.

Just a little look here at how good Skubal was looking:

Onto the third and the Astros managed a Jake Meyers double to start things off, but that was followed by three straight outs. In the bottom half, Spencer Torkelson got a leadoff single, then Zach McKinstry reached on a fielder’s choice, but Torkelson made it safely to second on a missed catch error by Jeremy Pena. Three outs followed, though, to leave the men stranded.

Jeremy Pena doubled to start the fourth, then advanced to third on a groundout. Alex Bregman singled to score Pena and put the Astros on the board. Jon Singleton walked, then Yainer Diaz singled to score Bregman. It was a rough inning for Skubal but he got it together to get the final two outs. In the bottom half Kerry Carpenter got his second home run of the night.

Colt Keith got himself a double, but the Tigers had to settle for the one extra run, ending the inning up 8-2.

With two outs in the top of the fifth, Jeremy Pena and Yordan Alvarez singled, but the Astros weren’t able to bring them home. In the home half, Jake Rogers got a one-out single, but was eliminated on a force out off the bat of Riley Greene. Greene was safe at first. Two outs followed, leaving Greene on base.

The Astros went 1-2-3 in the top of the sixth. Skubal looked incredible. Bottom of the inning saw a single from Matt Vierling, but nothing else.

Skubal was back out in the seventh, and gave up a walk to Mauricio Dubon, then a single to Joey Loperfido. He got Altuve to pop out, and that single out was it for him for the night. His final line was 6.1 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K on 97 pitches. Just a really, really nice outing from Skubal, and the roar of applause from the Comerica Park crowd showed it. Shelby Miller came out in replacement with two men on. He then hit Jeremy Pena in the shoulder to load the bases. A double play almost wasn’t, but the Tigers challenged the safe call, it was overturned, and the inning ended on a double play. Phew. In the bottom half the Tigers went down in order.

Tyler Holton was next out of the pen for the top of the eighth. Yainer Diaz singled, but the Astros did not score any runs. In the bottom half of the inning Shawn Dubin’s beard was on the mound for the Astros and Riley Greene singled. Mark Canha followed that with a walk. The Tigers left two stranded though, as they headed into the ninth to hopefully finish off the game.

Holton was back out for the ninth and got the Astros in order to win the game.

Final: Tigers 8, Astros 2