Tarik Skubal, Javier Báez, Colt Keith march Detroit Tigers to 7-2 win over Minnesota Twins

Detroit Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal, one of the best pitchers in baseball, was punched in the mouth in the first inning Saturday, as Royce Lewis cranked a first-pitch slider for a two-run home run.

Skubal, though, responded like an ace.

“Giving up two in the first, I’ve done that a lot?” Skubal said. “Unfortunately, I have. In ’21, I gave up a lot of runs in the first inning, so it’s learning experiences. There’s a ton of growth to be had, even three years ago, that you can take into today’s game.”

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Skubal mowed down the Minnesota Twins throughout the rest of his seven-inning start, leading the Tigers to a 7-2 win Saturday in the second of three games in the series at Comerica Park.

The Tigers (52-54) have won 13 of their past 19 games.

“Do you think I think about the future?” manager A.J. Hinch said. “I do in my own way, but not in the moment. In the moment, we’re trying to win the game. I love what we’re building here, but I want to stop talking about building. I want to win every game. What we’re witnessing with Tarik is just scratching the surface on what he can do.”

Skubal, the favorite to win the American League Cy Young Award with a2.35 ERA through 21 starts, allowed two runs on five hits and two walks with eight strikeouts across seven innings, throwing 96 pitches.

The Tigers drew 35,138 fans on Saturday night.

“What an environment,” Skubal said, when asked about crowf. “I don’t know how many people were there tonight, but it was a great environment, and it was great last night, and I look forward to playing in front of the fans like this again tomorrow — and winning a series. It was awesome.”

The Tigers also received a boost from Javier Báez, who hit a home run for in third consecutive game. He padded a one-run lead with a two-run homer — his third homer in a stretch of 11 plate appearances — in the seventh inning, turning on a middle-in fastball from right-handed reliever Brock Stewart.

Báez had one homer in his first 229 plate appearances.

“I love it,” Skubal said. “I love Javy, everything about him. He plays the game hard. I’ve always admired that about him. Ground ball, he’s running it 90 feet pretty hard no matter how he feels. I got a ton of respect for that player.”

The homer from Báez extended the Tigers’ lead to 5-2. Still in the seventh, the Twins replaced Stewart with left-handed reliever Steven Okert for a left-on-left matchup with rookie Colt Keith.

Keith greeted Okert by unloading on an inside sinker for a two-run home run to right field. He has 11 homers in 95 games, with his latest homer putting the Tigers ahead, 7-2.

It was Keith’s first homer against a left-handed pitcher in his MLB career.

“It’s been tough because I never really face them as much,” Keith said. “It’s been inconsistent. But I feel like, when I’m feeling good, I’m able to hit anybody. Hopefully, I just keep getting at-bats against them, and I can build on that as we go.”

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Tarik Skubal stars

In the first inning, Skubal allowed a leadoff single to Manuel Margot on his second pitch of the game.

Then, Lewis crushed Skubal’s slider that hung around at the bottom of the strike zone for a two-run home run to left-center field with one out in the first inning.

Just like that, the Twins grabbed a 2-0 lead.

“A bloop and a blast,” Skubal said. “That happens in this game. My command, my execution, was really bad for probably the first two or three innings, too. Just continuing to attack guys, even though you know it’s not going exactly the way you want to, and then you’ll just kind of find it, and that’s what happened.”

Skubal allowed three of five hits in the first inning. After the first, the only other hits came from Jose Miranda in the fourth inning and Carlos Santana in the sixth inning.

In the fourth, Skubal retired the next three batters to strand Miranda: Santana (strikeout), Willi Castro (strikeout) and Ryan Jeffers (flyout). In the sixth, Skubal struck out Miranda to open the inning before avoiding trouble after Santana’s one-out single by striking out Castro and getting Jefers to line out.

Skubal issued both walks with one out in the fifth inning, but Byron Buxton struck out and Lewis flew out to strand the runners. He struck out Buxton with a mix of fastballs and changeups.

“That happens in this sport,” Skubal said. “Just don’t let it impact the next pitch, and I felt like I did a good job of that.”

He generated 13 whiffs on 52 swings — a 25% whiff rate — with three fastballs, two sinkers and eight changeups. The Twins entered Saturday with the best offense in baseball against left-handed pitchers, posting a .784 OPS.

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

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