Detroit — First, he threw his hat. The glove was next to hit the dugout floor.
It was a frustrating night for Tigers’ ace and probable All-Star Game starter Tarik Skubal and he released a little steam when he got the handshake from manager AJ Hinch after five innings.
“You try not to let the game get you mentally, but it got me a little bit today,” said Skubal, who gave up four runs, including a two-run homer to Julio Rodriguez in the fifth, as the Seattle Mariners snapped a three-game losing streak, pounding the Tigers, 12-3, before a sellout crowd (41,681) at Comerica Park Friday night.
“That’s what I am most disappointed in,” he continued. “Physically, I was ready to go, but I just couldn’t get into the (strike) zone early. It was not for a lack of effort or whatever. Just frustration and sometimes you’ve got to let it out. If you don’t, it’ll carry into the next day and that’s the last thing you want.
“Get it out and move on; learn from it and come out the other side a better version.”
The loss was Skubal’s first at home this year and it ended his MLB-most, 10-game win streak, dating to April 2 when he was beaten by these same Mariners in Seattle on April 2.
“It was an off night for him,” Hinch said. “It looked like he was fighting himself pretty much from the get-go, which we don’t see very often. It’s a good reminder these guys are human. They’re going to have some of these games where they’re not at their best.”
Skubal breezed through a seven-pitch first inning before giving up a two-out single to Jorge Polanco in the second. Donovan Solano followed, hitting a sinking liner to center.
BOX SCORE: Mariners 12, Tigers 3
Parker Meadows made a late decision to dive for it, missed it and the ball rolled all the way to the wall for an RBI triple. With the bottom of the order up, the reward wasn’t worth the risk for that late dive.
“It’s do or die and that’s the die version of it,” Hinch said. “It’s a tough play. When he makes the play, we’re all standing up and screaming and saying great play. When he misses, you yell and say keep it in front. I will go back and look at his jump, look at his route and make sure he had a chance to catch it.
“But that’s a risky play and that was the down side of it.”
Skubal, uncharacteristically, started falling behind hitters. He ended up walking two and hitting another. He threw first-pitch strikes to only nine of 21 hitters. And it caught up to him in the fifth.
He walked Solano to start the inning. After All Star Zach McKinstry got the second out with a terrific play behind the bag at third, JP Crawford ripped a two-out, RBI single.
But he left a 1-2 changeup up and over the middle of the plate to Julio Rodriguez. Skubal had struck out Rodriguez with a changeup in the third inning. This time, the hanger was launched 416 feet over the left-field fence.
“I couldn’t get into a rhythm, for whatever reason,” Skubal said. “We were trying different things, just couldn’t quite get into a rhythm and it showed with the strike-throwing, especially the first-pitch strikes. That’s the worst it’s been in a while.
“But that OK. You learn from it, get back to work and get ready for my next one after the break…The point is to not let it happen again. It will be a good learning lesson and I will be better for it.”
Skubal ended his night by striking out All Star Cal Raleigh for the second time in the game. He’d recorded his 800th career strikeout in the fourth inning, punching out Mitch Garver.
He hadn’t allowed a run in his two previous starts and had been 8-0 with a 2.06 ERA in 10 starts at Comerica.
“I put us in a hole early,” he said. “As a starting pitcher, you try to keep your team in the game for as long as possible. I just didn’t do my job today. … You have to look in the mirror and assess and just understand you weren’t very good today. That’s part of the game.”
The Tigers had just tied the game in the bottom of the fourth, taking advantage of a bonus swing by McKinstry.
They put the first two runners on against Mariners’ starter Luis Castillo, but he got Riley Greene to pop out and then struck out Spencer Torkelson.
It looked like he struck out McKinstry, too, foul-tipping a ball that catcher Garver trapped. Home plate umpire James Hoye initially called him out but McKinstry insisted the ball hit the dirt. Third base ump D.J. Reyburn agreed the ball hit the dirt.
McKinstry stepped back in and laced an RBI single to center to tie the game.
“The third base ump came in right away and said the ball hit the dirt,” Hinch said. “The second base ump (John Libka) got the ball and the ball had a ton of dirt on it and they didn’t drop it when they were throwing it around the infield. They got the call right.”
The Tigers got within a run in the sixth.
All Star Riley Greene, who had a pair of hits, tripled home Wenceel Perez and chased Castillo. He scored on a sacrifice fly to the wall in left by Spencer Torkelson.
Raleigh, the American League starting catcher in the All-Star Game, took over from there.
He made it a two-run game in the eighth. Lefty Tyler Holton got two quick strikes on him and he had him out in front on a 2-2 changeup. Raleigh was still able to reach out, get the barrel to it and send his 37th homer into the seats in left.
He hit No. 38 in the ninth, a grand slam blast off lefty Brant Hurter, capping a seven-run inning. Four of the runs go on reliever Carlos Hernandez’s ledger. The others on Hurter’s. Catcher Jake Rogers got the final two outs.
“We bore the brunt of a big night by a guy who is going to get a ton of attention as the year goes on,” Hinch said of Raleigh. “He’s challenging the MVP and we saw first hand what that looks like.”
@cmccosky
Want to comment on this story? Become a subscriber today. Click here.