If you want good pitching, tonight was the night to be watching. Nathan Eovaldi was up for the Rangers, and while his leash was short owing to a recent groin injury, he was still dialed in. For the Tigers, it was bona fide ace Tarik Skubal, who continues to make his Cy Young case with every outing.
Let’s take a look at how this pitching duel shook out.
The Tigers kicked off the game going 1-2-3 in the top of the first. Into the home half Marcus Semien wasted no time putting the Rangers on the board with a solo home run. Skubal quickly course-corrected and got the next three outs.
Three up, three down for the Tigers in the second. Justyn-Henry Malloy, noted for his patience and discipline, had his first major league plate appearance, swung first pitch, and hit it just shy of the warning track in right center field. His family would have to wait, as Malloy went 0-for-3 in this one. In the Rangers’ half of the second, Wyatt Langford singled, but was the only baserunner.
Onto the third inning and with two outs, the Tigers finally put themselves on the scoreboard with a solo home run from Jake Rogers. Eovaldi spun a breaking ball in there when he didn’t really need to and hung it. In a low-scoring outing, it seemed likely this would be the kind of game that would come down to a single run, so the Tigers definitely needed the tie.
In the bottom of the third, Marcus Semien and Corey Seager got back-to-back singles. A key double play ended the threat.
Gio Urshela got a two-out single in the fourth, but no runs scored. In the home half, Wyatt Langford got a triple when Wenceel Perez managed to accidentally jam the ball into the outfield wall netting before getting it back. Thankfully no one scored.
Top of the fifth was 1-2-3 for the Tigers. On the Rangers side, Marcus Semien drew a two-out walk, followed by another single from Seager, but again, neither baserunner scored.
Onto the sixth and with two outs, Riley Greene got on with a ground-rule double that chased Eovaldi from the game, making way for Jose Leclerc. The Rangers had an Adolis Garcia single to start things off, then Jonah Heim walked. Three outs later, the score was still tied 1-1, as Skubal really dug deep for a pair of strikeouts and a ground out to turn the Rangers away. That was it for Skubal, whose final line was 6.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, 1 HR on 96 pitches. Obviously more hits than you’d like to see, but really solid work overall.
Once again the Tigers were hitless in the seventh. Beau Brieske was out of the Tigers’ pen in the bottom of the eighth. Between Brieske painting the corners and Jake Rogers framing like he works at the art department at Michaels, it was a rock solid 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh.
Top of the eighth it was a familiar and welcome sight as, with two outs, Jake Rogers hit a solo home run, giving the Tigers the lead.
Rangers went 1-2-3 in the bottom half.
As we moved to the ninth the Tigers were scoreless, and headed into the bottom of the inning just hoping Beau Brieske could keep them static. Brieske was on fire with two outs and some incredible (and incredibly lucky) strikes, but then gave up a two-out double to Ezequiel Duran. Hinch then headed out to the mound to let Brieske make the call, and Brieske repeatedly said “I got it.” And got it he did, with a flyout to Greene to end the game.
The victory gets the Tigers back to an even .500 on the year. The Tigers will have the matchup advantage on Tuesday as Jack Flaherty handles Game 2, while a banged up Rangers rotation is still TBD.
Box Score: Tigers 2, Rangers 1