The Detroit Tigers watched a seven-run lead evaporate in the blink of an eye in a 10-9 extra innings loss to the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday, July 29 at Comerica Park.
With constant speculation swirling about his future in Detroit, Tigers ace Tarik Skubal had a solid start, giving up three runs on four hits across 6⅔ innings as the Tigers built a big lead. But the Orioles chased Skubal from the game with two outs in the seventh in what turned into a five-run inning after reliever Kyle Finnegan failed to get the final out.
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The Orioles scored two more runs off reliever Drew Anderson on a Coby Mayo triple in the eighth inning, completely erasing Detroit’s big lead. The Orioles scored all seven runs in the span of 13 at-bats.
Orioles catcher Yohel Pozo and Jackson Holliday gave the Orioles their first lead with two runs in the top of the 11th, but Spencer Torkelson answered with a no-doubt two-run homer – his 100th career home run – to tie it again.
Orioles center fielder Colton Cowser delivered the dagger with a two-out RBI single in the 12th inning off Drew Sommers in the Tigers’ 10-9 loss.
The Tigers built the lead with three runs in the second, two in the fifth and two in the sixth innings. Javier Báez led the way with two RBI singles.
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The Tigers lost two of three in the series with Baltimore. The Tigers (51-58) still sit behind the Orioles (53-56) in the American League wild-card standings and 3½ games behind the Cleveland Guardians, who play at 7:10 p.m.
MORE: Tarik Skubal trade rumors: What’s being said around MLB
Skubal came into the day sitting at 999 career strikeouts. In the first at-bat of the game, he got Orioles left fielder Taylor Ward to chase his signature changeup below the zone for his 1,000th strikeout. The Comerica Park crowd showered him with a standing ovation, and he tipped his cap in appreciation before getting back to work.
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Skubal became the 17th pitcher and fourth lefty in franchise history to reach 1,000 strikeouts. He was the fastest to do it by nearly 100 innings, taking 857 frames to accomplish it compared to 944⅔ innings for current Toronto Blue Jay Max Scherzer.
Skubal did not run into any trouble until the seventh inning. He retired 14 batters straight from the second inning through the end of the sixth.
After Gunnar Henderson‘s leadoff single, he quickly got two ground outs, which advanced the runner to third base. Coby Mayo drew a walk, and then Leody Taveras drove in Henderson to chase Skubal. He received a massive standing ovation for the second time.
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Skubal threw 92 pitches, including 56 strikes. He generated 10 whiffs on 39 Baltimore swings, with four coming from his changeup. The Orioles had an average exit velocity of 93.4 mph on contact off Skubal, but could not do any damage until late.
Both inherited runners scored after Kyle Finnegan walked Jeremiah Jackson and gave up a single to pinch-hitter Jackson Holliday. Finnegan gave up two more runs on a single from Taylor Ward before Drew Anderson came on to stop the bleeding.
Anderson gave up two runs in the eighth on Mayo’s triple off the center-field wall, but maintained the tie by punching out the final two batters.
The Tigers’ big third inning started with another career milestone. Torkelson led off the inning with his single, which was the 500th hit of his five-year MLB career. His 100th career home run came in crunch time in the 11th.
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Right fielder Matt Vierling followed with a double down the left-field line to put two runners in scoring position. Out of the nine spot, Báez punched a ground-ball single the opposite way to score Torkelson. On the throw home, Báez aggressively rounded first base and got himself in a pickle. First baseman Pete Alonso chased after him, but threw the ball away into left field, allowing Vierling to score and Báez to reach second safely.
Vierling led off the fifth inning with a triple, and then was pulled for McKinstry as a base runner. Báez drove him in with his second opposite-field single, and then came around to score on a Hao-Yu Lee sacrifice fly.
McKinstry pushed the lead to seven runs with a two-run double in the sixth inning. The Tigers threatened with a Colt Keith triple in the seventh, but couldn’t score.
The Tigers moved the ghost runner to third base in the 10th, but Eduardo Valencia hit into an inning-ending double play. In the 12th, the Tigers had two on with no out, but Dillon Dingler struck out and Riley Greene and Valencia grounded out.
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The Tigers are off Thursday before hitting the road for a nine-game West Coast road trip. The Tigers head to Sacramento to face the Athletics Friday-Sunday. RHP Casey Mize (4-6, 2.70 ERA) is the Tigers’ probable starting pitcher on Friday (9:40 p.m., Detroit SportsNet/WXYT 97.1 FM). After three games in Sacramento, the Tigers have three-game series with the Seattle Mariners and San Francisco Giants.
Contact Jared Ramsey at jramsey@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Tigers waste Tarik Skubal’s last start before deadline in loss to O’s
