Detroit Tigers' Tarik Skubal 'felt good' in final spring start in 4-3 win over Phillies
CLEARWATER, Fla. — The Detroit Tigers beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-3, on Friday at BayCare Ballpark.
The Tigers are 17-9-3 in Grapefruit League play.
What happened
Left-hander Tarik Skubal, who sill start Opening Day against the Chicago White Sox on Thursday — completed his final start of spring training. The 27-year-old allowed one run on three hits and two walks with six strikeouts across five innings, throwing 60 of 86 pitches for strikes.
He is ready for the 2024 season.
"It has served its purpose," Skubal said. "Get built up, get ready for a season. I felt like I did both those things."
SETTING THE ROTATION: Tigers send Matt Manning to Triple-A; Casey Mize, Reese Olson make MLB roster
Skubal threw 29 pitches in his first game, 41 pitches in his second game, 73 pitches in his third game and 86 pitches in his fourth game. He threw a simulated game between his second and third outings in spring training.
He breezed through his first two outings.
But he allowed four runs on 11 hits and three walks across nine innings in his third and fourth outings.
"The last two outings have been like mentally, physically grinds," Skubal said. "It's good to experience that, especially with the heat and humidity, like trying to stay hydrated and not cramp. I think that's more mentally where I was focused at than even what's going on sometimes, so it's good."
Starting off
Four batters from the Phillies reached safely against Skubal in the first and second innings: Trea Turner (single), Nick Castellanos (walk), Whit Merrifield (double) and Jake Cave (single).
Castellanos fell behind 0-2 in the count to begin the second inning and battled back to draw a walk on seven pitches. The Phillies took a 1-0 lead on Cave's RBI single, but Skubal stranded Merrifield at third base when he sent down Edmundo Sosa and Trea Turner for the second and third outs.
"I felt good," Skubal said. "I felt better in the last three innings than I did in the first two. I haven't found a rhythm in the last couple of outings. This one, in the third inning, I found a pretty good rhythm, and that was enjoyable. That felt good, and I felt like myself a little bit more."
POSITION PLAYERS: Tigers set 13 position players for Opening Day with three cuts in spring training
Skubal dominated in the third and fourth innings.
Only one batter — Bryson Stott — reached safely in those innings, doing so on a missed catch error by first baseman Spencer Torkelson in the third inning. Catcher Jake Rogers erased Stott, recording the third out in the third by throwing him out trying to steal second base.
Skubal struck out Castellanos on four pitches for the first out in the fourth inning, finishing him with a swinging strike on a changeup.
He threw 35 fastballs, 19 changeups, 15 sinkers, 13 sliders and four curveballs. He generated 17 whiffs — on 46 swings — with six fastballs, five changeups, one sinker and four sliders.
His fastball averaged 96.4 mph.
"I thought my stuff was good," Skubal said. "That's a pretty good lineup. I'm assuming they handle left-handed pitching pretty well, too. But it's a good challenge. It's always a good challenge."
At the plate
The Tigers didn't do anything on offense until scoring four runs in the ninth inning.
Phillies right-hander Zack Wheeler — in the battle of Opening Day starters — shoved 5⅓ scoreless innings with zero walks and five strikeouts. The Tigers picked up their only hit against Wheeler on Parker Meadows' bunt single to open the fourth inning, only for Wheeler to retire the next three batters: Riley Greene (strikeout), Spencer Torkelson (flyout) and Kerry Carpenter (groundout).
LEADOFF HITTER: Tigers center fielder Parker Meadows: 'I definitely feel like I can hit' in MLB
The Tigers didn't get another hit until Justyn-Henry Malloy's single off right-handed reliever Seranthony Domínguez in the eighth inning, but there weren't any runs on the scoreboard until the ninth inning.
Everything changed when ex-Tiger Gregory Soto, a left-handed reliever, entered the game for the Phillies. (The Tigers traded Soto and Kody Clemens to the Phillies in exchange for Matt Vierling, Nick Maton and Donny Sands in January 2023.)
The Tigers hammered Soto for four consecutive hits — Rogers (solo home run), Andy Ibáñez (single), Gio Urshela (RBI double) and Ryan Vilade (two-run home run) — before he recorded an out.
Vilade's homer put the Tigers ahead, 4-3.
The fans in the stands booed Soto, then mocked him by cheering when he got his first out on Bligh Madris' groundout. He also retired Trei Cruz and Malloy to finish an ugly ninth inning.
On the mound
The Tigers pitched three regulars out of the bullpen: right-hander Will Vest, righty Shelby Miller and left-hander Tyler Holton.
Vest gave up an RBI double to Brandon Marsh in his 20-pitch sixth inning; Miller surrendered a solo home run in his 15-pitch seventh inning. Both pitchers racked up a pair of strikeouts.
Holton covered the eighth and ninth innings.
Three stars
1. Vilade, 2. Skubal, 3. Rogers.
Next up
Saturday (1:05 p.m.) vs. New York Yankees in Lakeland; Saturday (1:07 p.m.) vs. Toronto Blue Jays in Dunedin.
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.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers' Tarik Skubal 'felt good' in 4-3 win over Phillies
