Latz goes toe-to-toe with Skubal, but Rangers fall to Tigers on 'Sunday Night Baseball'

ARLINGTON -- Tarik Skubal versus Nathan Eovaldi on Sunday Night Baseball was supposed to be a movie. It should’ve been must-watch baseball on a national stage.

Instead, Jacob Latz got the spot start after Eovaldi was scratched with back tightness on Saturday night. It wasn’t the pitchers' duel everybody expected, but it was still a close game as the Rangers narrowly fell, 2-1, to the Tigers to close out the series.

“I was excited, amped up for the opportunity, especially on Sunday Night Baseball,” Latz said. “I was looking back a few days before at that matchup, Evo versus Skubal. That would have been a cool one to be a part of. That didn’t happen, but yeah, it was just a good day to take advantage of an opportunity."

Latz performed admirably, putting the Rangers in a position to win with five innings of one-run ball against the team with the best record in the American League.

He allowed three singles over a four-batter span in the second inning -- including a Zach McKinstry RBI knock that got Detroit on the board -- but escaped the jam to avoid any further damage. Latz induced 10 swing-and-miss strikes (5 to Javier Báez) and has recorded 10+ whiffs in 6 of his last 10 outings; he had a 32.3% whiff rate entering play tonight (92nd percentile, per Savant).

“I was just fighting myself today, I don't know,” Latz said. “Maybe it was just the days in between and the time off with the All-Star break, but I just fell out of sync a little bit mechanically. But I found a way to grind through it. The goal as a starter is to at least give you five or six [innings]. I'll hang my head on that one, but some things to clean up going forward. Obviously we knew our backs were against the wall, going against him today. I was trying to keep the runs limited, and I did that.”

And yeah, Detroit still had the reigning American League Cy Young Award winner on the mound. Almost anybody was bound to be outdueled.

Skubal mowed through the Rangers lineup -- which was stacked with right-handed hitters for the occasion -- tossing 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball while collecting 11 strikeouts. The only two hits he allowed before the seventh inning were to Corey Seager, who is now 8-for-12 in his career against Skubal.

The Rangers came back to tie the game against Skubal in the seventh, when Adolis García and Kyle Higashioka notched a pair of one-out hits off him, leading to García scoring the tying run on a wild pitch by Tigers reliever Tyler Holton after Skubal exited the game.

The Tigers would re-take the lead an inning later.

“I think you have to give credit to our pitchers,” said manager Bruce Bochy. “They rose to the occasion. Latz, he battled hard. He was a little off with his command, a lot of deep counts, but he left the game with one run. Really couldn't ask for more. … [Skubal] is one of the best in the game. It's tough duty for hitters. You just hope your pitching steps up, which they did. [Latz] has done a terrific job.”