It’s our second early game of the week, but thankfully this one wasn’t so early we needed coffee to get through it. The Tigers were hoping to come away with a series win, and with Tarik Skubal on the mound, that could only help their case. They had a great game on Wednesday night, and just needed to ride that high into today. They’d be facing off against Brandon Sproat for the Brewers.
In expected Tarik Skubal fashion, he got the Brewers out in order in the first. In the home half, Kevin McGonigle hit a leadoff double. On two subsequent outs, McGonigle was able to advance to third, then a Riley Greene home run brought two runs in. Great way to get the game going. Dillon Dingler singled as well, but the Tigers would need to settle for just the two runs.
Skubal was dialled in, getting another 1-2-3 inning in the second. The Tigers, however, did the same in the bottom of the inning, keeping the game moving at a good clip. Speaking of a good clip, the same thing happened in the third, with both teams going quickly through the order.
While Skubal managed to get through the first eleven Brewers in order, he couldn’t get a fourth shutout inning in a row. With two outs, William Contreras doubled, followed by a Gary Sanchez double to bring in the first Brewers run of the game. In the home half, Riley Greene got a leadoff walk, but one out later he was eliminated in a force out off the bat of Kerry Carpenter. One more out followed to end the inning with one man left on the bases.
Skubal was clearly annoyed with his fumble in the fourth, because he turned around in the fifth to just devastate the Brewers in another 1-2-3 outing. With one out in the home half, Javier Baez singled. He was probably hoping to avoid a repeat of the running drills he had to do in a similar situation last night. It turned out worse as McGonigle hit a long fly out and Baez got tagged out at first for a truly odd double play to end the inning.
In the sixth, the Brewers were back at their nonsense, with David Hamilton getting on with a soft bunt. Then they had the audacity to do it again, this one down the first base line by Brandon Lockridge, putting two on safely. A force out off the bat of Brice Turang got Lockridge out at second, but left men at the corners. A double play was exactly what the team needed, and that’s exactly what they got. Skubal induced a ground ball on a 3-0 count and the inning was suddenly done, the threat over. With one out in the home half, Colt Keith walked, and that was it for Sproat, who was replaced by Aaron Ashby. Riley Greene singled, sending Keith to third, then Dingler hit into a force out, eliminating Greene at first, but scoring Keith to give the Tigers another run. Matt Vierling came out to pinch-hit and drew a walk. The Brewers went back to their bullpen, this time for Grant Anderson, who came out and got the final out of the inning.
The Brewers opened the seventh with back-to-back singles from Gary Sanchez and Luis Matos. A Blake Perkins double right to the warning track brought in two runs and tied the game up at 3-3 after a lengthy battle against Skubal. That was it for Skubal, who went 6.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 5 K on 94 pitches. The game started incredibly strong for him, save one rough inning. It wasn’t until the seventh that he really started to falter, and it’s a shame to see his game end that way. Tyler Holton came out in relief. After getting the first out of the inning, Holton gave up a single to Joey Ortiz. A David Hamilton single then brought one more run in to break up the tie and give the Brewers the lead. Lockridge walked, the first Brewers walk of the game, loading the bases with still just the one out. It was a bad situation for the Tigers until a rare 3-2-2 double play ended the inning. Gotta love it.
Trevor Megill was next out of the Brewers pen in the bottom of the seventh. He got the Tigers out in order on three consecutive groundouts.
Burch Smith came out for the Tigers in the top of the eighth making his Tigers debut. What the team needed was a clean inning, and Smith gave them just that, getting the Brewers out in order. Angel Zerpa was the new Brewers pitcher, and with one out, Jahmai Jones took him yard, hitting a home run to left center. Two outs followed but the Tigers had tied things up again.
Sal Frelick singled to start the ninth. Then, a Rengifo bunt (these guys and their bunts, I swear), saw him out at first but got Frelick to second. Ortiz walked, and Smith was replaced by Brant Hurter. Hurter came in and induced a double play to end the inning. The Tigers headed into the bottom of the ninth hoping to eke out a win and avoid extra innings. Abner Uribe was in for the Brewers. And with one out, last night’s home run hero Spencer Torkelson did it again with a walk-off home run to wrap up the series and game with a win.
Final: Tigers 5, Brewers 4
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