Twins 4, Tigers 0: Skubal sharp, bats quiet

Tarik Skubal and Ty Madden looked good, but it was a slow day for the Tigers’ offense.

The major league pitchers were good for the Tigers in this one, but a couple of relievers in the system faltered as the Twins cruised to a 4-0 victory. The bats were not hot for the home team. They managed just a pair of singles, while Thayron Liranzo walked three times. There wasn’t too much else to report from the offense.

This one marked the spring debut of your reigning and defending AL Cy Young award winner, Tarik Skubal. It was a pretty routine first outing for the big fella. He got a pair of ground outs from Edouard Julien and Mickey Gasper, and then popped triple digits for the first time against Jair Camargo before whiffing him on a slider for Skubal’s first punch out.

We also got the first broadcast from Jason Benetti and Dan Petry in this one, and it felt great to have them back on the air talking Tigers. Petry and Andy Dirks are set to split time with Benetti again this season with appearances from Kirk Gibson, Carlos Pena, and Todd Jones on tap. Petry and Bobby Scales will again be Dickerson’s color analysts as well, with Greg Gania of the SeaWolves filling in for Dickerson when Dickerson fills in for Benetti on the televised broadcast.

The Tigers had Hao-Yu Lee starting at third, and Gleyber Torres at second base in this one. Lee has been getting plenty of playing time early, while this was the first time we’ve seen Torres. They, along with Wenceel Pérez, grounded out against right-handed Twins prospect, Andrew Morris, in the bottom of the first.

Skubal gave up a Jose Miranda single to start the top of the second, but promptly retired the next three in order.

Top catching prospect Thayron Liranzo was in the designated hitter spot in this one, with Dillon Dingler behind the dish. Liranzo walked to lead off the bottom of the second, but the Tigers couldn’t move him past first base.

Free agent reliever John Brebbia took over for the Tigers in the third and immediately gave up a solo shot to left-handed hitter DaShawn Keirsey Jr. Brebbia tried to drop a 2-2 slider under Keirsey’s hands, but it was lifted high over the right field wall instead. A single followed, but Brebbia retired the next three in order. 1-0 Twins.

Ryan Kreidler got the Tigers their first hit, leading off the third with a sharp single. He would steal second base, but Jahmai Jones and Wenceel flew out, and Hao-Yu Lee swung through a high curveball that was a mistake that worked for the Twins’ Cory Lewis.

Ty Madden was next up for the Tigers, and probably the most notable outing of the day. The right-hander has made some adjustments to his delivery to simplify things. As Dan Petry noted, Madden is setting his hands chest high and pitching from there out of windup, rather than reaching over his head.

Madden tossed two frames with a walk allowed against two strikeouts. He threw everything but the kitchen sink at the Twins, and showed pretty good command in doing so for his first outing of the spring. Fourseamers, sinkers, splitters, sliders, cutters, and even the curveball made appearances. Madden’s main job is using his fastball less and keeping it on the edges to avoid taking so much damage on it, and he did both. His velocity was down in the 91-94 mph range, but that’s not a concern early in camp.

Dillon Dingler cleaned up the fourth by cutting down Brooks Lee trying to take second after the walk. This throw is perfection, and Hao-Yu Lee had an easy time of the tag as a result.

The Tigers continued to scuffle at the plate, and it was Tyler Owens time as the sixth inning rolled around. The right-handed reliever, whose scouting report we released on Monday, had another strong outing. He looked sharp, mixing some good splitters and sliders to go with the power fastball. He collected one strikeout and allowed nothing in his inning of work.

Zach McKinstry pinch-hit for Hao-Yu Lee in the bottom of the sixth, promptly was hit on the arm by a pitch, and came right back out of the game for pinch runner Jake Holton. The sequence elicited some fun from the broadcast crew as McKinstry was interviewed after the inning. Ok, he was only in the game for two pitches, but he did take one for the team!

It was defensive replacement time entering the seventh inning. Lefty Matt Gage took over and quickly racked up three ground outs from Twins hitters. Thayron Liranzo drew his third walk of the day in the bottom half, but again the Tigers failed to move their few baserunners.

Right-handed reliever Brendan White’s comeback trail hit a rough stretch in the eighth, allowing a two-run homer. He got the next hitter on a grounder to Eddys Leonard at shortstop, but Rubel Cespedes followed and golfed a sweeper at the bottom of the zone out to right field. 4-0 Twins. Tough day for White, but he’s just beginning to work his way back as a minor league free agent. Hopefully he can get back and help out this summer.

Another reliever who might help out is right-hander Tanner Kohlhepp. The former Tigers fifth rounder back in 2021 has had Tommy John surgery, amid other injuries, but still has a tricky delivery and nasty movement on his fastball, cutter, and changeup. Command is still a work in progress.

Kohlhepp struck out the first two hitters he faced on swinging strikes. He gave up a soft single and then a walk as his command started to fail him. He got up to 25 pitches, and so A.J. Hinch came out to get him. Lefty P.J. Poulin hurried into the game and dusted Carson McCusker to end the inning and send this to last call for the Tigers.

Eliezer Alfonzo flicked a single to left to lead off the ninth, and that was just the Tigers second hit. Eddys Leonard struck out. That brought up Liranzo again, hitting right-handed for the first time in this one and getting four plate appearances on the day, which tells you a little something about how the Tigers view him at this point. They’re definitely trying to get him as many ABs as possible early on before Jake Rogers and Dillon Dingler take over the majority of reps in a few weeks to ramp up for the regular season.

Here, Liranzo popped out behind second base, and Tomas Nido grounded out to end it.

The Tigers will play a pair of split squad games at 1:05 p.m. ET on Thursday.

Jack Flaherty will make his spring debut at home against the Boston Red Sox , while Matt Manning gets the start on the road against the Tampa Bay Rays .