West Sacramento-Tarik Skubal screamed in frustration when track and field catcher Shea Langeliers touched.
Skubal knew he was about to want him to play the Langeliers at a distance of 2-1 in the seventh inning – a 98.5 mph sinker on the inner half of the board – back. But this didn't come back.
Langeliers pounded the belt and provided a 450-foot left center field for a Grand Slam, while Skubal (who almost escaped a large jam at a critical moment) headed to Dugout.
The night of the American League Cy Young Award winner ended that night, defeated in a seventh-game rally that lost 8-3 to A in Sutter Health Park on Monday. In just 10 minutes, Tiger Ace's potential career night was a very disappointing one.
“I just didn't perform some courts in the seventh inning,” Skubar said. “Something unfortunate happened. A little bit of baseball happened.”
Skubal paraded as usual when he took the ball to seventh place in West Sacramento and the Tigers rose 3-1. He only made 75 shots in six innings, hitting 10, allowing only three hits and an ungained run.
But A's rookie Colby Thomas led the inning with a home run laser, and the Tigers' defense didn't help. Next batsman Darell Hernaiz reached into the infield single when first baseman Spencer Torkelson couldn't have a tough single jump shot against second baseman Gleyber Torres. Shortstop Zach McKinstry started a regular ground ball for his second turnover after Tyler Soderstrom Double moved Hernaiz to third place.
Suddenly, Skubal and Tigers clung to a single lead, the base was full and no one went out. It looks like one of the best starters in MLB is about to dance some serious hassle when Skubal hits out the next two batsmen.
Not this time. Skubal leaked to the Langeliers' fourth court into the middle of the strike zone, and A's catcher didn't miss it. The Langeliers' Titanic explosion was the 17th home run in the Major League Baseball since the All-Star Game and the first major Slam allowed in the Major League.
This is Detroit's ace left-hander who immediately regrets it.
“I have to be a little better and execute the tone there,” Scobar said. “The defense has a lot of time to pick me up, so sometimes you have to pick up the defense, which I didn't do today.”
Skubal walked to home board referee Dan Bellino in frustration, asking for a new baseball after the Grand Slam, but he never used it. Tigers manager AJ Hinch immediately strolled to the mound and made a pitch to end Skubal's 99 pitching nights.
Skubal's final statistics series – 6 2/3 innings, 12 strikeouts, and only 1 run to get a run – surely masked the struggle he's going through in the final frame. Indeed, for most of the night, lefties were barely reachable, allowing only one hit in the first four innings (Soderstrom's Bloop single).
Hinch said he felt he didn't feel like he needed to pull the ace starter before the seventh hot Langeliers appeared before the seventh hot Langeliers appeared.
“He was one of the best pitchers in the game if not the best,” Hinch said. “We've seen a lot of outings in Tarik and he put us on his back and did it.”
It's not like this on Monday. Skubal's recent battle with track and field continues – he allowed four runs on average in four games, and the A's history goes back to 2024, which is his worst result in that team that spans any AL.
“They are waving and swaying on some courts,” Hinchi said of A’s. “We gave them an extra chance in that inning, whether it was starting the inning or finishing his outing, they came up with some huge swings.”
It was indeed a tough end to Skubal's overall impressive start. The lefty eliminated 12 without a batsman, his 10th double-digit strikeout this season – tied Mickey Lolich to the second largest in Tigers history in 1969.
But considering how Monday's game was played, Skubal certainly wasn't satisfied.
“I think what comes out of my hands is very good,” he said. “My thoughts don't matter – we lost. The goal is to win on the days when I pitch.”