Detroit Tigers, Game 71: One thing I loved, one thing I didn't

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The News' Tony Paul gives his quick takes on the Tigers' 3-1 loss to the Guardians on Saturday:

One thing I loved

Tarik Skubal is a special pitcher, so it's always special to watch Skubal pitch. Saturday was even more special, given he went, unbelievably, just 45 days between starts, despite having an elbow surgery that historically has sidelined pitchers for several months.

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Skubal was pretty close to vintage Skubal, too, with his first pitch of the game a 98-mph fastball. He touched 100 mph multiple times. His change-up was excellent, his slider was good.

He made only a couple of mistakes, the biggest one being a 98-mph fastball to Daniel Schneemann — just in the game, because Chase DeLauter left after singling on a 100-mph fastball in the first inning (after he crashed into the outfield wall in the top of the first). Schneemann homered deep to right field, a 417-foot blast.

It was just the seventh home run Skubal has given up to a left-handed hitter in his career, of the 93 homers he's allowed in the regular season. It was just the fifth he's allowed on an 0-2 count. Interestingly, two of the three homers he's allowed this season were to a left-handed hitter on an 0-2 count (Corbin Carroll).

Skubal pitched into the fifth inning, allowing three runs (two earned) on five hits while striking out four. He walked one and hit a batter. He threw 80 pitches, 53 for strikes.

One thing I didn't

Skubal probably might not have many starts left for the Tigers, ahead of the Aug. 3 trade deadline.

In fact, the lefty could be down to just a handful of starts left in his career with the Tigers, who, after a surge to start the month of June have now lost three of four games, and are back to 13 games under .500 (29-42). They dropped to 0-6 against the Cleveland Guardians. They're 0-3 against the first-place Chicago White Sox.

Blame the offense. The Tigers have scored just 11 games in six games against the Guardians this season, including three runs in the first two games of the series in Cleveland.

After getting just two hits in Friday's 3-2 loss, they had three hits through five batters Saturday, for a 1-0 lead. But they didn't score again, wasting multiple golden opportunities, including two on and nobody out in the third inning, stranding Dillon Dingler after a leadoff triple in the sixth, and two on and one out in the ninth.

The Tigers were 1-for-11 with runners in scoring in position. They left nine runners on base. They had nine hits and somehow scored just a single run. It's the fewest runs they've scored in a game in which they had at least nine hits since 2024. Spencer Torkelson was 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. Jahmai Jones was 0-for-2 with a strikeout in two key at-bats and now has a .457 OPS.

Three stars

(Season total in parentheses)

▶ Tarik Skubal (4)

▶ Gleyber Torres (10)

▶ Dillon Dingler (19)

Player of the game

(Season total in parentheses)

▶ Daniel Schneemann

Tigers' ABS tracker

  • Hitter challenges: 39-for-76
  • Catcher/pitcher challenges: 42-for-60

Next Tigers game

▶ Game 72: Twins at Guardians, 1:40 Sunday, Detroit SportsNet, 97.1

ICYMI: Yesterday's Tigers recap

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@tonypaul1984

This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Detroit Tigers recap, Game 71: One thing I loved, one thing I didn't

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