Tarik Skubal pitched seven strong innings in his return to Seattle as the Detroit Tigers defeated the host Mariners 6-2 on Wednesday night.
Wenceel Perez and Jake Rogers homered for the Tigers, who will try to sweep the three-game series Thursday night.
Cal Raleigh homered for the Mariners, who lost their third game in a row and fell a half-game behind the Houston Astros in the American League West.
Raleigh nearly had a second homer, but Tigers center fielder Parker Meadows robbed him with a leaping catch at the wall with a runner on to end the eighth inning to preserve a 3-2 lead.
Skubal (13-4), who attended Seattle University, allowed two runs on three hits. The All-Star left-hander walked two and struck out nine.
Mariners starter George Kirby (8-8) lasted just five innings. The right-hander gave up three runs on seven hits with one walk and seven strikeouts. Kirby was done in by a high pitch count, as he needed 28 to get out of the first inning and threw 97 overall.
The Tigers wasted no time taking the lead. Perez hit a leadoff homer to right field in the first inning on a 2-2 fastball after fouling off a pair of two-strike offerings.
Detroit extended its lead in the third after Matt Vierling lined a one-out single to center. Bligh Madris followed with a double to right, and Vierling scored on the play thanks to Mitch Haniger’s fielding error.
Rogers went deep to left with two outs in the fourth to extend the Tigers’ lead to 3-0.
Skubal retired the first 10 batters he faced before Randy Arozarena reached on an infield single with one out in the fourth. Shortstop Javier Baez made a diving attempt and knocked down the ball but had no play. Raleigh then hit an 0-1 sinker over the wall in center field for his team-leading 24th homer of the season.
The Tigers added three runs in the ninth after Seattle’s Jonathan Hernandez walked the first two batters he faced. With one out, Vierling hit an RBI single to left field. Gio Urshela’s two-out, two-run single off Trent Thornton capped the scoring.
–Field Level Media
