Detroit, MI
Tarik Skubal, Javier Báez, Colt Keith march Detroit Tigers to 7-2 win over Minnesota Twins
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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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Inglewood, Calif. — Despite all the errors and issues facing them this season, the Detroit Lions entered Sunday relying on one reassuring truth: They controlled their own destiny for a spot in the postseason.
Following a 41-34 loss to the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium, that is no longer the case.
The Lions will now not only have to win their remaining games in the regular season, but also get some help from other teams as they hope to jump the San Francisco 49ers (10-4), Chicago Bears (10-4) or Green Bay Packers (9-4-1) for one of the NFC’s top seven seeds.
Detroit’s best path to the playoffs remains finishing better than the Bears, who host the Lions in Week 18. The Lions, with a win in the finale, could secure a tiebreaker over Chicago. Put simply: If the Bears lose one of their next two contests (vs. the Packers and at the 49ers) and Detroit wins out, the Lions would bounce them from the playoffs.
“We’ve got to take it one week at time, that’s the biggest thing. … Don’t look too far ahead, don’t start counting games (or) looking at teams,” said receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, who had 164 yards and two touchdowns against the Rams. “Just focus on the task at hand, the team we’ve got up. Put all your energy into that and take it one week at a time.”
Next up for the Lions is a home tilt with the Pittsburgh Steelers, who play the Miami Dolphins on Monday. Following that will be road tests at the Minnesota Vikings and Bears. The Lions were upset by Minnesota in Week 9 but smoked Chicago in Week 2, though the Bears have won all but two of their games since.
Sunday’s result in Los Angeles doesn’t change the already heightened level of urgency the team had heading into the game, linebacker Jack Campbell said: “Every game in the NFL, you’ve got to be urgent. You’ve got win every single game. That’s what it comes down to, and we haven’t been doing that. We put ourselves in this position. … I feel like every guy in this locker room’s been urgent since we showed up (for training camp).”
Dan Campbell’s Lions have been praised for their resolve over the last handful of years. They showed it last season, when they marched to 15 wins in spite of being the NFL’s most injured team. They’ll need that quality over the next three weeks — they haven’t won consecutive games since Week 5 — in addition to some luck.
“I believe in the guys on this team (and) the character of the players on this team, our captains, the core of it. … I know we can do it. These players know we can do it,” Campbell said. “You go back to work, man. I don’t believe for one second anybody’s lost confidence. … We’ve got three to go here. We don’t control our own destiny, but we need to win these three, and it starts with Pittsburgh at home.”
rsilva@detroitnews.com
@rich_silva18
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The Detroit Lions needed some help from an AFC rival to improve their playoff odds before their Week 15 matchup, but they didn’t get the outcome they desired.
The Lions (8-5, 3rd in NFC North) are facing off against the NFC’s top-seeded Los Angeles Rams (10-3, 1st in NFC West) on Sunday, Dec. 14, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. As the NFC’s No. 8 seed, the Lions entered the day with a 54% chance to make the playoffs per NFL Next Gen Stats, but those odds fell with the result in Chicago.
With the No. 7-seeded Chicago Bears hosting the 3-10 Cleveland Browns, Lions fans were hoping for a Browns upset to drop the Bears to 9-5 and allow the Lions to move into a playoff position with a win, since a 9-5 Lions team would own a tiebreaker over Chicago (thanks to their Week 2 victory). However, the Bears took care of business on a frigid day at Soldier Field, beating the Browns, 31-3, to improve to 10-4.
With the Bears beating the Browns, the Lions playoff odds have now lowered to 52% ahead of their game against the Rams (4:25 p.m., Fox). Here’s a look at what the rest of the NFC playoff picture looks like, including how a Lions win can help improve their position.
Lions playoff scenarios
Here’s the latest info on how the Lions can make it into the NFL playoffs, how they could miss out and what their playoff odds are.
What are Lions’ odds to make NFL playoffs?
According to NFL Next Gen Stats, the Lions have a 52% chance of making the playoffs. If they beat the Rams, they will have a 73% chance to make the postseason, but those odds drop to 40% with a loss.
NFC playoff standings
Only the top seven teams make the playoffs in each conference. Here are the NFC standings entering the Lions Week 15 game against the Rams, with playoff odds from NFL Next Gen Stats:
- Rams: 10-3, 97%
- Packers: 9-3-1, 92%
- Eagles: 9-5, 95%
- Panthers: 7-6, 47%
- Seahawks: 10-3, 97%
- Bears, 10-4, 68%
- 49ers: 9-4, 93%
- *Lions: 8-5, 52%
- *Buccaneers: 7-7, 54%
- *Cowboys: 6-6-1, 8%
*Currently out of the playoffs
How Lions can make NFL playoffs
The Lions still control their own playoff destiny despite currently being out of the playoff picture as the No. 8 seed. However, if the Lions lose any of their four remaining regular-season games, they will need additional outcomes to break their way in order to make it to the postseason.
- If the Lions go 4-0 in their remaining regular-season games and finish 12-5, they will make the playoffs no matter the outcome of any other game (and have an outside shot of grabbing the No. 1 seed in the NFC).
- If the Lions go 3-1 in their final four games and finish 11-6, they will still make the playoffs if the Bears go 1-2 in their final three games and one of those two losses is to Detroit. An 11-6 Lions team could also theoretically overtake the San Francisco 49ers for a wild-card spot, but that would require the 49ers to lose three of their last four games.
- If the Lions go 2-2 in their final four games and finish 10-7, they will have a very difficult time of making the playoffs, especially if one of those losses is to Chicago. In that scenario, either the Rams or 49ers would need to lose all four of their remaining regular-season games for the Lions to make the playoffs.
- If the Lions go 1-3 in their final four games and finish 9-8, they will have virtually no shot at making the playoffs unless that one win is against the Bears – and Detroit’s playoff odds would still be minute even with a win in Chicago.
- The Lions will be eliminated from playoff contention if they go 0-4 in their final four games and finish 8-9 on the season.
Lions schedule: Next game, final stretch
- Week 16, Sunday, Dec. 21: vs. Pittsburgh Steelers, 4:25 p.m., CBS.
- Week 17, Thursday, Dec. 25: at Minnesota Vikings, 4:30 p.m., Netflix.
- Week 18, Saturday/Sunday, Jan. 3-4: at Chicago Bears, TBD.
Bears schedule: Next game, final stretch
- Week 16, Saturday, Dec. 20: vs Green Bay Packers, 8:20 p.m. ET, Fox.
- Week 17, Sunday, Dec. 28: at San Francisco 49ers, 8:20 p.m. ET, NBC.
- Week 18, Saturday/Sunday, Jan. 3-4: vs Detroit Lions, TBD.
When do NFL playoffs start?
The wild-card round is Jan. 10-12.
NFL playoffs schedule
- Wild-card round: Jan. 10-12.
- Divisional round: Jan. 17-18.
- Conference championships: Jan. 25.
- Super Bowl 60: Feb. 8.
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You can reach Christian at cromo@freepress.com.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was wrong to determine Michigan met federal health and environmental standards for ozone pollution or smog in the Detroit area in 2023, a federal appeals court judge has ruled.
U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Helene White on Dec. 5 issued a split decision in a case about how environmental regulators measured Detroit air quality in 2022, when wildfire smoke drifted over Detroit and affected the air quality monitor readings for a few days in June.
Michigan considered those days “exceptional events” because of the wildfire smoke and didn’t include the high ozone pollution readings in its calculation to the EPA.
With those days tossed, the state was able to argue in 2023 that Michigan met federal air quality standards for ground-level ozone pollution. The seven-county Metro Detroit region had previously been out of compliance with the ozone standards.
The Sierra Club sued, arguing the wildfire smoke did not meaningfully change ozone readings and that the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy failed to analyze how local pollution sources contributed to the ozone levels on those days. The environmental advocacy group also challenged the EPA’s finding that the region met federal standards for ozone pollution.
White determined the exceptional events designation was appropriate, siding against the Sierra Club in deciding the EPA and EGLE correctly analyzed the smoke’s impact on ozone readings in June 2022.
She sided against EPA in deciding the EPA was wrong to put Michigan back into attainment for ground-level ozone without Michigan adopting control measures that would cut volatile organic compounds, which contribute to ozone pollution.
EPA determined the Detroit area was out of attainment for ground-level ozone on April 13, 2022. Michigan regulators did not impose control technologies for ozone-causing pollutants by the deadline in early 2023. Instead, they asked EPA to redesignate the area as in attainment with the air quality rules.
Michigan was obligated to implement control technologies even though it had submitted a redesignation request, White said in her order. Control technologies include efforts to reduce volatile organic compounds from being released from manufacturing plants and industrial sources, according to EPA documents.
Sierra Club member and Detroit environmental justice activist Dolores Leonard cheered the outcome of the case.
“Without this victory, EPA’s decisions would have let Michigan avoid the rules needed to reduce pollution and keep the air we breathe safe,” Leonard said. “At a time when asthma rates are rising in Detroit, especially in Black communities, that’s unacceptable. With the backing of this federal court decision, our community will continue to push the state of Michigan to take much-needed action to relieve ozone pollution in this area.”
The Clean Air Act requires those pollution control measures to be implemented even after the EPA puts an area back into attainment to ensure the air quality remains healthy, said Nick Leonard, executive director of Great Lakes Environmental Law Center, which argued the Sierra Club’s case.
White’s order means the EGLE will have to reapply for the attainment of the ozone standard, Leonard said.
“At the very least, I would say they have to correct the legal deficiency, which was that they didn’t enact the pollution control rules that are typically required for areas that are in non-attainment for this long,” he said.
The EPA is reviewing the decision, its press office said. The office did not respond to a question about whether it would ask Michigan to adopt volatile organic compound control measures as a result of White’s decision.
The EGLE also is reviewing the ruling, spokesman Dale George said.
“While EGLE was not a party to the case and is not able to speak in detail about the legal outcome, we were encouraged that the court supported the use of exceptional events demonstrations and acknowledged the sound science behind EGLE’s determination that the Detroit area met the health-based ozone standard,” George said.
Leonard said he was disappointed but not surprised that White ruled against the Sierra Club’s arguments that EGLE and the EPA did not correctly account for wildfire smoke’s impact on ozone readings in 2022.
That issue is going to plague communities as climate change causes northern wildfires to become more common and kick smoke into Michigan, he predicted.
“If we start to essentially cut out bad air quality days because of the claim they were partially influenced by wildfire smoke … , you create this disconnect between the regulatory systems that are meant to protect people and the actual air pollution that people are breathing,” Leonard said.
ckthompson@detroitnews.com
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