Tarik Skubal dominates Royals amid trade deadline talk
· Yahoo Sports
Detroit – If this was it, and nobody is saying that it was, Tarik Skubal made it memorable.
As the Aug. 3 trade deadline nears and rumors continue to be relentless, if not fictional, the Tigers’ lefty ace put on a show for a sold-out crowd of 40,638 at Comerica Park Friday as the Tigers beat the Kansas City Royals, 2-1.
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Skubal struck out a season-high 12, allowed just four hits in 7.1 innings and left to thunderous ovations at the end of the seventh and after he dispatched Carter Jensen in the eighth.
Skubal's next start, if the Tigers' rotation stays in order, would be next Wednesday against the Orioles at Comerica Park.
Skubal announced his presence right out of the gate, striking out the first two batters of the game. By the end of the fifth, he had nine strikeouts, five of which were of the three-pitch variety.
He was dominating the strike zone. Throwing 24 first-pitch strikes to the 28 batters he faced. He got 25 misses on 54 swings, 10 on 14 swings at his changeup.
The 12 strikeouts was one off his career-high for a regular-season start, two off his postseason best of 14.
He struck out Jensen and Lane Thomas to strand runners at second and third in the third inning. But his old nemesis, Salvador Perez, struck again, doubling into the right-center gap to lead off the fourth.
He scored on a two-out double by Nick Loftin.
That was the only smudge on his ledger and he left the 2-1 lead first to Brenan Hanifee, who got two ground ball outs to end the eighth.
Kenley Jansen got two tough left-handed hitters, Jac Caglianone (fly out) and Vinnie Pasquantino (strikeout), and then ended it by retiring Nick Loftin, earning his 12th save.
It looked like the Tigers were going to make a rout of this early.
Colt Keith and Gleyber Torres greeted Royals’ right-handed opener Beck Way with singles and Dillion Dingler took one off his shoulder to load the bases.
Riley Greene launched one to the opposite field that seemed headed to the Tigers’ bullpen. But left fielder Isaac Collins, who is 5-8, got back to the fence, timed his leap expertly and turned what would’ve been a grand slam into a sacrifice fly.
With two outs, Hao-Yu Lee ripped a sharp single to center. Third base coach Billy Boyer aggressively waved Torres home, challenging the arm of center fielder Lane Thomas.
The throw was up the line and Torres scored relatively easily.
But the offense was cooled by left-hander Noah Cameron.
He kept the Tigers off the board from the second through the eighth, allowing only two hits with eight strikeouts.
This story is developing.
@cmccosky
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Tarik Skubal dominates Royals amid trade deadline talk