A nice, rainy day to play two.
Well, after a slight rain delay on the rain delay, the Tigers/Pirates doubleheader got underway about forty minutes late on Thursday afternoon. Tarik Skubal was on the mound for the Tigers, and Andrew Heaney getting the nod for the Pirates.
The first started a little rough for Skubal. Andrew McCutchen got a one-out single, then Joey Bart took a walk. Alexander Canario walked right behind him to load the bases, which wasn’t an ideal start to the inning. A strikeout and flyout ended the inning with all three runners still stranded, but it was obvious Skubal wasn’t thrilled with his performance. It’s worth noting, though, his rosin bag seemed to be wet, and the field conditions aren’t ideal following all the rain.
In the home half, Gleyber Torres kicked things off with a single, then Jahmai Jones doubled, to put two men in scoring position. left fielder Tommy Pham really put in the effort to make sure Torres had no chance to score. The efforts were for naught at Riley Greene hit a sac fly to bring Torres home and put the Tigers on the board first.
Skubal wasn’t about to have two bad innings in a row. He came back out to get the Pirates out 1-2-3. In the home half with one out, Dillon Dingler singled. Javier Baez then singled, and was followed by a walk to Parker Meadows to load the bases. Torres then hit a sac fly to bring Dingler home.
With two outs, things were bound to be tense, but Jones walked, and with the bases loaded again, Riley Greene hit a perfect single into right that the outfielders just couldn’t seem to figure out, and the wet field likely made things even harder to control. Three runs scored by the time it was all said and done. The Tigers were up 5-0 at the end of the second.
In the top of the third, McCutchen got a one-out double, but Skubal wasn’t about to let any runs get away from him and got the final two outs of the inning. In the home half the Tigers went down in order as well.
In the fourth, the Pirates were three-up, three-down. With one out in the bottom of the inning, Parker Meadows singled. Then Torres doubled, sending Meadows home.
Jones walked, then Greene singled to load the bases. Spencer Torkelson hit a sac fly, scoring Torres. A strikeout to Perez ended the inning, but the Tigers were now up 7-0.
With one out in the top of the fifth, Billy Cook singled. Nick Gonzales then doubled. It was Skubal’s first rough outing since the first. McCutchen grounded out, but it was enough to get Cook home and put the Pirates on the board. Skubal, however, managed to get the final out of the inning. The Tigers wasted no time getting that run back in the home half as Zach McKinstry hit a solo home run to right, bouncing off the tarp, against new pitcher Chase Shugart.
Dingler was then hit by a pitch for a free base. Baez then singled. A one-out Torres single loaded the bases. Colt Keith replaced Jones and hit a sac fly to score Dingler.
Canario kicked off the top of the sixth with a single. Then, with one out, Isiah Kiner-Falefa singled. Jared Triolo walked. As the bases loaded, Skubal was at 100 pitches, certainly there had to be some debate over leaving him in, but he’s Skubal. He stayed. A sac fly from Tommy Pham scored Canario, and that was the end of the day for Skubal. Skubal’s final line for the game was 5.2 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, on 103 pitches. Carlos Hernández came out of the pen and induced an out that tested the limits of Spencer Torkelson’s yoga routine.
In the home half, McKinstry got a one-out single, but the Tigers ultimately left him stranded.
The Pirates went 1-2-3 in the top of the seventh. The Tigers answered by likewise going down in order in the home half.
Dylan Smith was next out of the Tigers’ pen in the eighth. He got the Pirates out in order, but had a little help like this wild play from Baez.
Ryan Borucki came in for the Pirates in the home half and got the Tigers out in order.
It was all down to the ninth inning as the Tigers wanted to maintain their healthy lead but also keep from overextending their bullpen ahead of the second game. Tommy Pham got a one-out walk, but that was all the Pirates could muster.