Wacha duels Skubal with no-hit bid to set up Royals' game-winning rally

KANSAS CITY -- With a zero on the scoreboard in both the runs and hits column, Michael Wacha was just trying not to think about it.

But he knew.

Of course he knew.

Wacha took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning on Saturday afternoon while sending the Royals to a 1-0 win over the Tigers and putting on a pitching clinic as he dueled with reigning American League Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal.

Skubal was dealing, too, holding the Royals to two hits in seven scoreless innings. In the end, Wacha and the Royals came out on top, evening the series against the Tigers at Kauffman Stadium.

Wacha didn’t earn the win in the box score despite seven scoreless innings and one hit allowed, but he and the Royals will take the victory. Especially against the Tigers, who own the best record (38-21) in MLB, and against Skubal, one of the best pitchers in the game.

“You lose last night’s game, you know who you’re facing today, and I don’t want to talk about Skubal the whole time, but we all know how good he is, right?” designated hitter Vinnie Pasquantino said. “He won the Cy Young, [earned the] Triple Crown last year. He’s just really freaking good.

“They’re one of the best teams in the American League … so it’s nice to get a win, a win off them, off a pitcher like that.”

A day after taking accountability for his lack of production with runners in scoring position, Pasquantino came through in a clutch moment in the eighth, with an opposite-field RBI single off Tigers reliever Beau Brieske to score Nick Loftin, who had smoked a double to the left-field wall.

Relief rushed through the dugout, not only for Pasquantino but for what it meant to break up the scoreless tie and put the team in a position to win a game that Wacha commanded from the start.

“Watching him do that today, it’s incredible,” Pasquantino said of Wacha. “He’s everything for this team.”

Wacha held the Tigers hitless through 6 1/3 innings on Saturday, with Colt Keith’s single up the middle serving as Detroit’s first hit.

It was the only hit against Wacha, who finished the seventh inning at 99 pitches.

“The art of pitching, it was on display,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “[Wacha] disrupts timing. He moves the ball around. He doesn't throw the same pitch twice, pounds the strike zone early, gets you to chase late. And he did all of that against us, and we didn't have much of an answer today."

Wacha walked just one batter and struck out six in his fourth-longest no-hit bid in his career. Wacha’s longest is 8 1/3 innings in 2013 with the Cardinals.

The Royals’ most recent no-hitter remains Bret Saberhagan’s on Aug. 26, 1991, against the White Sox.

Wacha said as Saturday’s game went on he had a “next-pitch type mentality,” meaning he was trying his best to not think about the no-hitter.

But he’s well aware of the situation.

“I know after the first,” Wacha said, laughing.

Wacha’s first hit allowed came on his 94th pitch. Manager Matt Quatraro said he was prepared to let Wacha go as long as the no-hit bid allowed, although there would have been a serious conversation about the ninth inning given the pitch count and heat on Saturday (84 degrees at first pitch).

But with a hit on the board, Quatraro turned to John Schreiber -- who did earn the win -- and Carlos Estévez for his 16th save of the season.

Wacha felt at his best from the start of Saturday’s game, which began with Mike Moustakas’ retirement ceremony.

“I felt like I was in a good spot going out there from the first pitch on,” Wacha said. “It was going where I wanted it to, I was able to elevate when I wanted to, stick it at the knees, offspeed was all sharp.”

Wacha’s changeup was particularly filthy, with the Tigers whiffing on it six times on 19 swings -- “It was dancing for me there for the most part today,” Wacha said of his cambio -- and he threw all his pitches for strikes. Almost all of the Tigers’ contact against Wacha was soft.

“It was close to the best outing I’ve ever seen him have,” Quatraro said.

And Wacha had some great defense behind him, including Loftin’s diving grab in left field in the seventh inning, right after Keith’s single.

“Wacha was pitching one hell of a ballgame,” Loftin said. “Whenever we're able to make some plays for him, it fires us up and shows that we’re there for Wacha because he’s there for us.”