On Monday afternoon, the Detroit Tigers beat the San Francisco Giants 5-1 in a makeup of a game that was rained out in April. I’m sure the players would’ve much rather had the day off, but that’s how the ball bounces sometimes, I guess.
Tarik Skubal made his fourth start for the Tigers this year, after his extended absence due to injury. His previous starts were all four innings and roughly 60 pitches long; the first two went great, and the third was a bit of a clunker, to say the least. We’re all watching him pretty closely around here.
Facing Skubal today was Ross Stripling, who’s had a rough 2023 season after coming over from the Blue Jays (and a stellar 2022). He’s bounced between the rotation and the bullpen, had an ERA of almost 6 coming into today’s game, and has had big trouble with home runs all season.
The Tigers got on the board in the bottom of the first: Riley Greene doubled (the first of his three hits on the day), and Spencer Torkelson brought him in with a single to make it a 1-0 game.
In the top of the third, Andy Ibáñez made a pretty nifty throw from his tuchus:
Meanwhile, Skubal was looking great: limiting hard contact, getting the odd good defensive play behind him, and hitting 95 mph with his four-seamer. He left after five innings and 82 pitches: no runs, two hits, no walks, and nine strikeouts. Nice.
The Giants’ lone run came off a Wilmer Flores — no, not that Wilmer Flores — solo homer in the sixth off José Cisnero. Frankly, I’m a little worried about José this year.
You know someone I’m not worried about? Tyler Holton, that’s who. He pitched 1⅓ clean innings with two strikeouts in relief today. My goodness, what a pickup in the offseason.
The Tigers got a little insurance in the eighth when Zach Short stepped to the plate with Ibáñez on second.
That would complete the scoring. Jason Foley gave up a hit and a walk in the ninth but ultimately didn’t allow any runs, and that was the ballgame. I’ll call this a one-game sweep because it makes me feel better.
Tomorrow evening the Tigers open up a three-game series at home with the Angels — and no, Shohei Ohtani isn’t scheduled to pitch in the series, but he hasn’t been doing that well on the mound lately anyway. What a scrub that guy is!
Observations and Notes
- Javier Báez got the day off today, but he pinch-hit in the seventh.
- He struck out.
- Happy birthday to the late “Honest” Ed Mirvish! (Only people in Toronto will get that one.)