DETROIT — When Tarik Skubal is on point, like he was Wednesday night in the Tigers' 5-0 win over the Minnesota Twins, it can seem like he’s toying with hitters.
Rookie Jose Miranda got a taste of that. Skubal struck him out in the second inning throwing a late-biting knuckle curve after showing him a couple of sliders and a heater. The curveball had to look like a whiffle ball to Miranda.
Next time Miranda came up, Skubal started him off with the knuckle curve for strike one. He followed that up with a 94-mph fastball, a chase slider and then, maybe because he hadn’t thrown one in a while, a change-up which Miranda waved meekly at.
He finished off an eight-pitch battle with Ryan Jeffers in the fifth with a 3-2 change-up, fearless and perfectly located.
Skubal gave up just two hits in seven scoreless innings — two singles with exit velocities off the bat of 60 and 65 mph. He had 13 swings and misses and 19 called strikes.
"When it's Tarik's day to pitch, there isn't a person in our organization who doesn't feel like we're going to win," manager AJ Hinch said last week.
Skubal's turn in the rotation is definitely becoming an event. The Tigers are 6-4 in his 10 starts.
The only time he was in any trouble Wednesday was the first inning. He gave up a two-out flared single to Jorge Polanco and walked Gio Urshela. Left-handed hitting Trevor Larnach saw seven pitches. The first six were fastballs and sliders, 92 to 95 mph, and he worked the count full.
Skubal then reached back and fired a 97-mph heater right by Larnach.
It was a dominant performance. Skubal ended up with six strikeouts. The 16 balls the Twins put in play against him had an average exit velocity of 84 mph. Not much hard contact.
The Tigers, don’t look now, have won six of eight and since May 12 are 11-7.
They broke the game open with a four-run fifth inning off Twins starter Bailey Ober.
Jeimer Candelario started it with a ringing triple to the gap in right-center field. In the second inning, he took a very passive swing at an off-speed pitch and fouled out. Ober fed him another change-up in the fifth and Candelario hammered it.
Tucker Barnhart singled to score Candelario. With one out, Willi Castro singled and Harold Castro doubled in two runs. Jonathan Schoop followed with an RBI double.
With Robbie Grossman on the injured list and Javy Baez getting a rare night off, Willi Castro, Harold Castro and Schoop were the first three hitters in Hinch’s lineup. They produced six hits and all five runs.
