The Detroit Tigers will look for some good on-field news when they try to salvage the finale of a three-game road series against the Miami Marlins on Sunday afternoon.
The Tigers (84-65), first in the American League Central, have seen their lead reduced to 6 1/2 games over the second-place Cleveland Guardians after losing three straight. Detroit, which led the division by 14 games on July 8, opened September with a 9 1/2-game lead.
Cleveland defeated the Chicago White Sox 3-1 on Saturday, while Detroit suffered a devastating 6-4 loss in 11 innings to Miami. That was after taking a 4-3 lead in the top of the 11th but not scoring again despite having the bases loaded and none out.
That allowed the Marlins to tie the game on a fielder’s-choice grounder and win it on rookie Troy Johnston’s two-run homer in the bottom of the inning. It was Johnston’s second home run of the game. The first, a solo shot in the sixth, made the score 3-3.
The Tigers did get some good off-field news on Saturday, however.
Tarik Skubal, a candidate to win his second consecutive AL Cy Young Award, removed himself from Friday night’s 8-2 loss to the Marlins in the fourth inning because of tightness on the left side of his upper body after throwing a pitch.
But before Saturday’s game, manager A.J. Hinch said all of the tests on Skubal came back clean and that the ace left-hander was still on track for his next scheduled start, Thursday against Cleveland in Detroit.
“It was just some tightness,” Skubal said after Friday night’s game. “Certain things happen during the game where you feel some things, and they come and go with the game. This one really didn’t go away, and that’s what prompted me to call for A.J. and a trainer.”
Skubal is 13-5 with a 2.26 ERA with 224 strikeouts and 28 walks in 183 1/3 innings.
The Tigers haven’t named a starting pitcher for Sunday, which means it likely will be a bullpen day.
The Marlins’ win on Saturday was their fourth straight, their longest winning streak since they won five straight from July 29-Aug. 3. It was also the ninth walk-off win of the season for Miami (70-79) and brought its extra-inning mark to 8-4 this year.
The two-homer performance had even more meaning for Johnston because Marlins starting pitcher Janson Junk was Johnston’s high school summer-ball teammate in the Seattle suburbs.
“It was my storybook,” Johnston said. “When me and Janson were playing together as kids, there were no thoughts of pro ball at all. We barely had college offers. So this was such a cool experience, and it feels very comfortable playing behind him.”
Junk allowed three runs on seven hits in six innings, with a walk and four strikeouts. Miami trailed 3-2 after Junk threw his final pitch to retire the Tigers in the top of the sixth. And in the bottom of the inning, Johnston took his old teammate off the hook for a potential loss with his first homer of the game.
On Sunday, right-hander Adam Mazur (0-3, 6.30 ERA) is scheduled to start for Miami in his first career game against Detroit.
He has lost his past two outings, both this month to the Washington Nationals. He gave up 11 runs (eight earned) in 10 1/3 innings with six strikeouts.
– Field Level Media
