Skubal fans 12 but sees game get away in funky 7th

WEST SACRAMENTO -- Tarik Skubal let out a scream of frustration the moment Athletics catcher Shea Langeliers made contact.

Skubal knew right away he wanted his 2-1 pitch to Langeliers in the seventh inning -- a 98.5 mph sinker on the inner half of the plate -- back. But it wasn’t coming back.

Langeliers hammered the belt-high offering 450 feet to left-center field for a go-ahead grand slam, and just like that, Skubal -- who nearly escaped a major jam at a critical moment -- was headed to the dugout.

The night was over for the reigning American League Cy Young Award winner, felled by a dramatic seventh-inning rally in Monday’s 8-3 loss to the A’s at Sutter Health Park. In just over 10 minutes, a potential career night for the Tigers ace ended in serious disappointment.

“I just didn’t execute some pitches there in the seventh inning,” Skubal said. “A little bit of unlucky stuff happened. A little bit of baseball stuff happened.”

Skubal was cruising as usual when he took the ball for the bottom of the seventh in West Sacramento with the Tigers up 3-1. He’d thrown just 75 pitches in six innings, striking out 10 and allowing just three hits and one unearned run.

But A’s rookie Colby Thomas led off the inning with a laser of a homer, and the Tigers’ defense didn’t help matters. The next hitter, Darell Hernaiz, reached on an infield single when first baseman Spencer Torkelson couldn’t scoop a tough one-hop throw from second baseman Gleyber Torres. After a Tyler Soderstrom double moved Hernaiz to third, shortstop Zach McKinstry booted a routine ground ball for his second error of the game.

Suddenly, Skubal and the Tigers clung to a one-run lead with the bases loaded and nobody out. When Skubal struck out the next two batters, it looked like one of MLB’s best starters was about to dance out of some serious trouble.

Not this time. Skubal’s fourth pitch to Langeliers leaked down toward the middle of the strike zone, and the A’s catcher didn’t miss it. Langeliers’ titanic blast was his MLB-leading 17th home run since the All-Star break -- and the first grand slam allowed by Skubal in the Major Leagues.

It was a pitch Detroit’s ace left-hander instantly regretted.

“I’ve got to be a little bit better and execute pitches there,” Skubal said. “The defense picks me up a lot of the time, so sometimes, you’ve got to pick up the defense, and I just didn’t do that today.”

Skubal walked dejectedly toward home-plate umpire Dan Bellino to ask for a new baseball after the grand slam, but he never got to use it. Tigers manager A.J. Hinch promptly strolled to the mound to make a pitching change, ending Skubal’s night after 99 pitches.

Skubal’s final stat line -- 6 2/3 innings, 12 strikeouts and only one earned run -- certainly belies the struggles he endured in his final frame. Indeed, the lefty was practically untouchable for most of the night, allowing just one hit (a bloop single by Soderstrom) through the first four innings.

Hinch said he felt no need to pull his ace starter before the red-hot Langeliers came up in the seventh, citing Skubal’s dominance Monday as well as his excellent track record.

“He’s one of the best pitchers in the game, if not the best,” Hinch said. “We’ve seen a lot of those outings out of Tarik where he puts us on his back and does it.”

That wasn’t the case Monday. Skubal’s recent struggles against the Athletics continued -- he has allowed an average of four runs in four starts against the A’s dating back to 2024, his worst mark against any AL team in that span.

“They put good swings on some pitches,” Hinch said of the A’s. “We gave them an extra out in that inning, and they came up with some enormous swings, whether it’s to start the inning or to finish his outing.”

It was indeed a tough ending to an impressive start overall from Skubal. The lefty struck out 12 without walking a batter, his 10th double-digit strikeout game of the season -- tying Mickey Lolich in 1969 for the second most in Tigers history.

But considering how Monday’s game played out, Skubal certainly isn’t satisfied.

“I thought the stuff coming out of my hand was pretty good,” he said. “It doesn’t really matter what I think -- we lost. The goal is to win on the days I pitch.”