Detroit, MI
Detroit Tigers, Tarik Skubal shutdown Philadelphia lefties in 4-1 victory
Philadelphia Phillies left-hander Ranger Suárez entered Tuesday’s game against the Detroit Tigers with a 1.75 ERA in 15 starts, leading all MLB pitchers.
By the end of Suárez’s 16th start, his ERA jumped to 2.01 (though that was still good enough for first place) because the Tigers scored four runs on five singles in the fifth inning.
The Tigers earned a 4-1 win over the Suárez-led Phillies on Tuesday in the second of three games in the series at Comerica Park. With the victory, the Tigers (37-42) can take the series from the Phillies in Wednesday’s finale.
JACK BE NIMBLE: Tigers’ Flaherty finds elite version of fastball, slider by scrapping cutter
For the Tigers, left-hander Tarik Skubal — the frontrunner to win the American League Cy Young Award — delivered seven scoreless innings on three hits and one walk with seven strikeouts against the National League’s best team to beat the NL’s best pitcher.
He threw 91 pitches.
Skubal, who retired 13 of his final 14 batters, has a 2.32 ERA in 16 starts, which ranks third in MLB. He trails only Suárez (2.01) and Boston Red Sox right-hander Tanner Houck (2.18).
The Tigers scored all four runs in the fifth inning against Suárez, sparked by three singles in a row from Justyn-Henry Malloy, Jake Rogers and Ryan Kreidler at the bottom of the lineup.
Kreidler failed to execute bunts on back-to-back pitches, immediately putting himself in a two-strike hole, but instead of striking out, he put a down-and-away changeup in play. The play was ruled an infield single, but shortstop Trea Turner booted the ground ball from Kreidler to load the bases.
The Tigers took a 1-0 lead when Matt Vierling grounded out.
Andy Ibáñez, a right-handed hitter who rakes against left-handed pitchers — with a .375 batting average vs. southpaws — provided some insurance when he attacked Suárez’s down-and-away changeup for a single up the middle, scoring two runs for a 3-0 lead.
A two-out triple from Riley Greene — his fourth triple this season — extended the Tigers’ lead to 4-0. Greene shot Suárez’s middle-down cutter past first baseman Bryce Harper and into the right-field corner.
Suárez allowed four runs on nine hits with zero walks and four strikeouts across six innings. He thrived on groundball outs in the early innings, but the Tigers found holes in the defense in the fifth to help Skubal win the pitching duel.
Meanwhile, Skubal generated 19 whiffs on 42 swings — a 45.2% whiff rate — with 11 changeups, five fastballs, two sliders and one curveball. His fastball averaged 97.5 mph.
Skubal bounced back from back-to-back below-average road performances in his last two starts, in which he allowed four runs in 6⅓ innings to the Houston Astros and five runs (four earned runs) in four innings to the Atlanta Braves.
This time, Skubal shut down the Phillies to show himself as one of the best pitchers in baseball.
Finishing what Skubal started
Right-handed reliever Shelby Miller and right-handed reliever Jason Foley completed the eighth and ninth innings, respectively, to finish what Skubal started.
Miller retired all three batters in the eighth.
Foley couldn’t keep the shutout intact, as Harper — the first batter in the ninth — blasted an elevated fastball for a solo home run to left field, cutting the Phillies’ deficit to 4-1.
It was Harper’s 20th homer this season.
But Foley retired the next three batters — Alec Bohm (flyout), Nick Castellanos (groundout) and pinch-hitter Bryson Stott (flyout) — to finish the game in a tidy 2 hours and 4 minutes.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
Listen to our weekly Tigers show “Days of Roar” every Monday afternoon on demand at freep.com, Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at freep.com/podcasts.
Lost in the excitement of draft picks and free agents, a healthy DJ Reader might be one of the most important aspects of the Detroit Lions’ offseason – and the veteran nose tackle will be entering training camp with something to prove after hearing whispers about his contract.
“I think there has been some slight disrespect thrown on DJ Reader’s name this offseason as a cap casualty. … Are you kidding me? They paid for DJ Reader for a reason. This guy is a game-changing nose tackle,” MLive’s Ben Raven noted on the latest Dungeon of Doom podcast.
For the first time in years, Reader is entering an offseason program fully healthy and ready to show Detroit exactly what it invested in.
“The biggest thing that I took away from DJ Reader, he said, like, hey, this is the healthiest offseason I’ve had in quite some time. And he’s just ready to get in there and get back rolling,” co-host Kory Woods said.
The timing couldn’t be better for the Lions’ defensive front, which is facing significant questions with Aidan Hutchinson returning from injury and Alim McNeill working his way back as well. Reader’s presence becomes even more critical.
The podcast hosts pointed out that Reader’s impact goes far beyond statistics. While casual fans might focus on sack numbers and tackles, Reader’s true value comes in occupying blockers, controlling the line of scrimmage, and making everyone around him better.
Despite questions about his deal, Reader made it clear that winning a championship is all that matters.
“He doesn’t care about anything else. He said he didn’t care about whether that extension got picked up or whatnot. Right now it is all about getting to that goal of winning the Super Bowl,” Woods said.
Check out the entire Dungeon of Doom episode below:
AI was used to summarize a recent episode of the Dungeon of Doom podcast. This story was reviewed and edited by MLive staff.
Detroit Tigers’ Matt Vierling explains why he drives 2012 Ford Escape
Detroit Tigers player Matt Vierling reveals on the “Days of Roar” podcast that he drives a 2012 Ford Escape — and why he won’t buy a new car.
At last, Matt Vierling has arrived.
The Detroit Tigers activated Vierling — an outfielder/third baseman on the field and a team leader behind the scenes — from the injured list ahead of their Friday, May 23, game against the Cleveland Guardians at Comerica Park. He wasn’t in the starting lineup, but he’s available as a pinch-hitter off the bench.
The 28-year-old had been sidelined since Feb. 23 — the second game of spring training — with a strained rotator cuff in his right shoulder. In total, Vierling missed 51 games this season.
But now, he’s finally back.
Buy our book: The Epic History of the Tigers
To create room for Vierling, the Tigers optioned left-handed reliever Sean Guenther to Triple-A Toledo. On May 24, the Tigers are expected to activate right-hander Casey Mize to start, which will lead to the demotion of a position player.
Vierling has been a mainstay for the Tigers the past two seasons.
He had the best results of his four-year MLB career in the 2024 campaign, hitting .257 with 16 home runs, 41 walks and 121 strikeouts in 144 games. He plays all three outfield positions and third base, but he performs best in center field and right field.
Returning to the Tigers, Vierling projects to play right field and third base, with ex-infielder Javier Báez expected to continue roaming center field until Parker Meadows is activated from the injured list within the next three weeks.
Meadows — who has been sidelined since Feb. 22 with a right upper arm nerve issue — started his rehab assignment May 20, which began his 20-day rehab clock.
He must be activated by June 9.
[ MUST LISTEN: Make “Days of Roar” your go-to Detroit Tigers podcast, available anywhere you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify) ]
As for Vierling, he played 11 games on his rehab assignment. He hit .206 with two home runs, nine walks and 14 strikeouts in43 plate appearances. He spent five games at designated hitter, three games at third base for 21 innings, two games in right for 13 innings and one game in center for nine innings.
The Tigers took their time with Vierling’s rehab assignment to ensure the rotator cuff strain in his right shoulder wouldn’t resurface with throws from different angles.
It took 19 days, but Vierling eventually checked all the boxes.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
Listen to our weekly Tigers show “Days of Roar” every Monday afternoon on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at freep.com/podcasts.
Order your copy of “Roar of 125: The Epic History of the Detroit Tigers!” by the Free Press at Tigers125.PictorialBook.com.
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
US sees cases of new COVID-19 variant linked to surge in China: report
Podcast host says Jordon Hudson 'choreographed' portion of Bill Belichick's recent interview
19 billion passwords have leaked online: How to protect yourself
AI is changing shopping. Will consumers buy in?
'I hate the internet, but I got to see it': 7 Emmy contenders on fame, fandoms and more
-
Education1 week agoVideo: Opinion | We Study Fascism, and We’re Leaving the U.S.
-
Technology1 week agoLove, Death, and Robots keeps a good thing going in volume 4
-
News1 week agoAs Harvard Battles Trump, Its President Will Take a 25% Pay Cut
-
Culture1 week agoBook Review: ‘Hunger Like a Thirst,’ by Besha Rodell
-
Technology1 week agoMeta asks judge to throw out antitrust case mid-trial
-
Politics1 week agoRepublicans say they're 'out of the loop' on Trump's $400M Qatari plane deal
-
World1 week agoCommissioner Hansen presents plan to cut farming bureaucracy in EU
-
Movie Reviews1 week agoClassic Film Review: ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ is a Lesson in Redemption | InSession Film