DETROIT -- Patrick Corbin did a good job staying with Tigers ace Tarik Skubal as the two southpaws dazzled hitters for seven innings. However, the Rangers were trailing, 2-1, when Corbin came out of the game, and that stood as the final score Friday night at Comerica Park.
Texas manager Bruce Bochy said of Corbin: “He really pitched a beautiful game. A great job. … I mean, he did all he could to help us win a ballgame. It was a great effort against a tough lineup.”
Skubal, who struck out 12, lost his perfect-game bid in the sixth inning.
“Skubal, I mean, is as good as there is in the game,” Bochy said. “He’s got really good stuff, and it’s a little hard to see out there [at twilight]. So you know, you’ve got your hands full. I thought it would be a low-scoring game, and our guy did everything he could. He’s got great stuff.”
Bad breaks led to both Detroit runs against Corbin, a 35-year-old veteran and two-time All-Star battling his way back into a quality rotation.
The Tigers scored first when Rangers left fielder Wyatt Langford appeared to lose track of a sinking liner hit by catcher Dillon Dingler as he dove for the ball in the second inning, resulting in an RBI double.
“You love the effort from [Langford],” noted Corbin. “Just wish it went our way instead of the other way.”
A fourth-inning leadoff walk to Riley Greene on a 3-2 pitch that appeared to be in the high, outside corner of the strike zone was costly, as Colt Keith brought him home with a two-out single after Greene stole second.
“There was a tough break on the 3-2 pitch,” said Bochy. “It looked like it might have been there. That led to a run.”
Rangers shortstop Josh Smith -- subbing for Corey Seager, who was resting his injured right hamstring -- singled cleanly past diving Tigers shortstop Trey Sweeney to lead off the sixth, breaking up Skubal’s perfect game. Center fielder Sam Haggerty, called up Friday from Triple-A Round Rock, singled to right to score Smith.
The inning could have been bigger, but Langford struck out swinging for the third time and Jonah Heim grounded into a forceout at second base to end the inning. Bochy said he was going to challenge the out at second, but the Tigers caught Ezequiel Duran in a rundown between third and home on the play, essentially giving them an insurance out in case the one at second could have been overturned.
“But Duran kept going,” said Bochy, “and so that nullified that.”
Added Bochy: “We’re battling there in the end. We got a big hit by Haggerty and just couldn’t finish it. … And he hit one in the gap [caught by center fielder Javier Báez on the run in the fourth inning]. Great at-bats by him all night, and a nice [Texas] debut by him.”
Haggerty’s day began with a 4 a.m. wake-up call in El Paso, Texas, where Round Rock had been playing. Then he took a 6 a.m. flight from El Paso to Dallas and had a two-hour layover before flying to Detroit.
“It’s just part of the game,” said Haggerty of the challenging day. “It’s part of our business. … It’s still about getting your job done.”
Corbin surrendered just two singles and the double, limiting Detroit to two runs over seven innings. He threw 93 pitches (50 strikes) and walked four while striking out three.
“You have to put up some zeros and keep us in the game,” said Corbin, who spent 12 seasons with the Diamondbacks and Nationals before signing a one year, $1.1 million contract with Texas in March. “We had a chance tonight, but it kind of didn’t work out for us.”
Corbin has been brilliant over his past five starts -- allowing no more than two runs in any of them while posting a 2.60 ERA and striking out 20 with 10 walks in 27 2/3 innings.
“Corby’s done a great job,” Bochy said prior to the game. “An experienced guy and a pitcher with really, really good game awareness. And he’s got four pitches -- got the fastball, cutter, curveball and a changeup. And he uses them all effectively, reads swings. He can adjust on the fly out there.
“And he’s really done a nice job since we got him here. He’s been fun to watch. Watch him compete out there.”
Corbin wasn’t pleased with four walks, but he credited the Tigers’ left-handed hitters “for laying off some close pitches -- which got some deeper counts. Ideally, I like to get ahead of them.”
He did about all he could, but it wasn’t enough against an ace like Skubal.
“[Skubal] had a big fastball,” said Bochy. “He’s got that great changeup, and he’ll go with the breaking ball. But the fastball was really good for him tonight. It had a lot of hop on it, and it was getting to them quick.”