Ex-squeeze me? Tigers walk off on sac bunt

DETROIT -- As with any rookie, Tarik Skubal’s first season has been one of small tweaks, big triumphs, lessons learned and a whole lot in between.

Sunday brought a little bit of everything with it as he one-hit the Astros through a career-best seven innings to set the stage for Robbie Grossman’s wild, walk-off safety squeeze during the Tigers’ 2-1, 10-inning win at Comerica Park.

• Box score

With one out in the 10th and Akil Baddoo on third base, Grossman squared up to the first pitch he saw and tapped a chopper to the left side of the infield. By the time Houston reliever Blake Taylor scooped it up, Baddoo was more than halfway home with a headfirst slide that earned Detroit a series split against Houston and sent the dugout into celebration.

“Sometimes, you aren’t going to win with a walk-off homer -- although those are fun,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “You’re not always going to win with a bullet to right field like we want to. Sometimes, it’s a nice little safety squeeze bunt.

“[We] have the same celebration on the field, so it’s nice to experience it.”

None of that would have been possible had Skubal not first held the Astros at bay.

Just 24 games into his Major League career, Skubal has already established himself as a strikeout pitcher. Using a combination of high-90s heat and a smart offspeed mix, his 85 punchouts on the season is tied for third among all MLB rookies. While efficiency is something the Tigers would like to see improve so Skubal can venture deeper into games, it’s hard to argue with the results he has shown so far.

That Skubal collected nine punchouts against red-hot Houston on Sunday was impressive, but even more so was the variety of ways he disposed of the Astros: While all nine strikeouts were swinging, Skubal rang up four on four-seamers, two using his slider, and one each on his changeup, curve and sinker.

“I like to compete against the best in the game,” Skubal said. “From a competitive standpoint, that’s just what I like to do. I don’t know if it’s rising to the occasion or anything like that, I just like to go out there and compete and give my all. I was excited about going up against the Astros.”

Skubal’s 10.83 strikeouts per nine innings is the highest single-season average in history by a Tigers rookie with a minimum of 50 innings pitched. If Skubal can keep pace, he’ll claim the top spot over flamethrowing reliever Joel Zumaya, who averaged 10.48 K/9 in 2006.

Skubal also drew a career-high 21 swings and misses and allowed only one hit, a first-inning single, against Houston, which has the highest team batting average in the Majors. Perhaps even more promising was the fact that Skubal worked through the first and second innings on just 11 pitches each. He then struck out the side in the third on 14 pitches and repeated that feat during a 17-pitch fifth, freeing the lefty up for later innings.

Skubal also showed his growth as a pitcher by navigating through a bit of trouble in the fourth, when he hit Jose Altuve on the left foot to open the frame, then issued a pair of walks around a groundout to put runners at the corners. Carlos Correa’s sac fly brought Altuve home with the game’s first run, but Skubal coaxed Kyle Tucker into a groundout to end the threat.

One run on one hit across a career-high seven innings against one of baseball’s hottest teams? Not a bad feather in the rookie’s cap.

“Tarik was the tone-setter of the day,” Hinch said. “That’s the best he’s thrown against, I think, the best team he’s pitched against. It’s nice to see that. It’s a great growing experience for him as a competitor.

“We’re talking about a good offensive club across the way that he tamed today, and that should be a confidence-builder.”

More important than his stat line was that Skubal kept his team in the game. That’s been the case more often than not for Skubal, who completed his eighth consecutive start with three or fewer runs allowed.

Thanks to Skubal’s stinginess, it took just an RBI single from Baddoo to even the score in the seventh. Relievers José Cisnero and Gregory Soto kept Houston in check through the 10th, allowing Grossman to put the bow on a successful weekend against the American League West leaders.

“[Skubal] gets better every time he goes out,” Grossman said. “Works his butt off every day he’s not pitching. It’s exciting to see. As a Detroit fan, you’ve got to be excited.”