DETROIT — Tarik Skubal reached for the towel around his neck to wipe away the tears or maybe sweat as he walked in from the visitors’ bullpen at Comerica Park for the first time Friday night.
As a tribute video played on the scoreboard, he tapped his chest and pointed to his former teammates on the Detroit Tigers in the home dugout. After silly sports talk radio debate over whether to boo or cheer for the trade deadline evacuee Skubal filled the airwaves during the day, his reception was overwhelmingly positive.
Until he took the mound in the bottom of the first inning. Then boos – or were they ‘Skoob”s? – were gradually drowned out by more cheers.
If the evening was difficult emotionally for Skubal, everything seems difficult for the Dodgers hitters these days. They managed to push across just two of the 20 baserunners they had against the Tigers, but that was enough to squeak out a 2-1 victory over the Tigers on homecoming night at Comerica Park.
While going 12-13 in the month of August, the Dodgers have averaged 3.88 runs per game. Take away the 23 they scored in three games at the offensive oasis known as Coors Field and that number shrinks to 3.36.
Skubal gave up a leadoff double in that first inning then gave the Tigers a review of their recent past, retiring the next 12 batters in order (six on strikeouts).
Eduardo Valencia ended that with a leadoff double in the fifth inning. He was still on second base with two outs when Skubal got ahead of Tigers prodigy Max Clark. The left-handed Clark got his bat on a 99-mph fastball from Skubal and lined it inside the third-base line and into the left-field corner for an RBI triple.
That was the only damage the Tigers inflicted on their former ace before Dave Roberts pulled him after six innings and, surprisingly, only 83 pitches.
The Dodgers’ offense had nine baserunners to work with in their first five innings (four singles and five walks). But all that kindling sparked nothing. They hit into two ground plays, Max Muncy struck out with the bases loaded and two outs in the sixth and, Kyle Tucker was thrown out trying to score from second on Kiké Hernandez’s sixth-inning single.
Two batters later, Miguel Rojas came off the bench to end a 16-inning scoreless drought by the Dodgers with a game-tying RBI single.
When the Dodgers stranded the bases loaded again in the seventh inning, they had managed just one run in their previous 18 innings while stranding 26 runners on base.
Freddie Freeman was having none of that in the eighth inning.
Teoscar Hernandez led off with a single. Ben Rortvedt bunted him to second and Hernandez moved to third on a ground out – putting him in excellent position to become yet another LOB. But Freeman sent a first-pitch fastball from Tigers reliever Jacob Waguespack back where it came from, driving in the go-ahead run with a single through the middle.
On their way to their fourth consecutive one-run decision and 14th this month – the first win this week – the Dodgers got three innings of shutout relief from Evan Phillips, Brock Stewart, Alex Vesia and Tanner Scott.
It wasn’t without peril. The Tigers put runners on the corners with two outs in the eighth against Stewart. Vesia came in and got Kevin McGonigle on a 403-foot fly out to the deepest part of center field.
Pitching for the third time in four games on this trip – he gave up the deciding run in the first two – Scott retired the side in the ninth to close it out.
More to come on this story.