The Detroit Tigers watched Tarik Skubal pitch brilliantly, striking out 12 in another strong outing. Despite his dominance, the Tigers still lost to the Athletics. The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner was brutally honest after the game, calling it “unlucky” and blaming his control in the seventh inning.
“I just didn’t execute some pitches there in the seventh,” he said, via Theo DeRosa of MLB.com. “A little bit of unlucky stuff happened. A little bit of baseball stuff happened.”
Skubal was untouchable through six innings, recording double-digit strikeouts for the tenth time this season. He is now just one shy of matching the Tigers’ single-season mark set by Mickey Lolich. But the seventh inning changed everything. Colby Thomas opened with a solo homer to tie the game, and two more hits followed. Then Shea Langeliers crushed a grand slam, the first Skubal has ever allowed, turning a 3-2 deficit into a 6-3 hole. From there, the Athletics controlled the rest of the night and sealed their comeback.
On offense, the Tigers built an early lead with disciplined at-bats. Gleyber Torres launched a solo homer in the sixth, while Wenceel Perez doubled in two runs to make it 3-0. But the momentum shifted quickly. The bullpen faltered after Skubal exited, and the Tigers couldn’t recover against an Athletics lineup that delivered timely hits late. To make matters worse, rookie Nick Kurtz crushed a two-run homer in the eighth to seal Detroit’s fate.
Skubal’s outing reflected both brilliance and frustration. He struck out 12, allowed only one earned run, and worked efficiently over 6⅔ innings. Yet one tough inning erased all his progress. It was another reminder of how thin the margins are in close Tigers-Athletics matchups.
The Tigers will now look to bounce back in game two of the series. Skubal’s honesty shows his competitive drive and leadership on the mound. The team knows they need sharper execution and cleaner defense to even the series. With plenty of games left, the Tigers believe they can respond and avoid letting the Athletics gain more ground.
Can the Tigers roar back and reclaim control of the series?
