Tigers' offense attacks in bunches in blowout win
CHICAGO -- It’s tough to upstage Tarik Skubal on a night that he starts, but for the second night in a row, the Tigers’ offense was productive from top to bottom. In Saturday’s 13-4 win over the White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field, every member of manager A.J. Hinch’s starting lineup had a hit or reached base safely.
The Tigers’ bats got to Sox starter Ky Bush early, needing just two batters in the first inning to score their first run and then tacking on four more in the third. Matt Vierling led things off in both innings, doubling and then scoring in the first, then getting things started in the third with a solo home run to left field.
Those runs provided a buffer for Skubal, who cruised pretty easily through the first two innings, but then gave up three runs on five hits in the third inning. In all, Skubal tossed five innings Saturday, allowing just the three runs while striking out eight. Skubal didn’t issue a walk, but the eight hits he allowed were the most since the Guardians touched him up for 10 hits on July 22.
Skubal has pitched 160 1/3 innings this season, more than twice the innings he logged last year and the highest number of his career so far, which may mean the Tigers exhibit some caution with his innings load in the final weeks of the season. That said, he leads the American League in ERA (2.58) and with Saturday’s outcome, Skubal has 15 wins, also tops in the league.
But the club’s offense’s 14-hit, 13-run effort secured the win. Leadoff man Vierling reached base four times, while Jake Rogers and Colt Keith both had three RBIs.