Detroit Tigers' Tarik Skubal sets career high with 12 strikeouts in 5-2 loss to Yankees

The rain never let up at Yankee Stadium.

From start to finish, the Detroit Tigers and New York Yankees played Sunday's game in a steady rainstorm. Batters wiped off their bats with towels, pitchers wiped their throwing hands on their pants and the ground crew poured bags of absorbent dirt in an attempt to keep the field playable.

The Tigers lost the battle in the rain to the Yankees, 5-2, in Sunday's finale of the three-game sweep in the Bronx. Left-hander Tarik Skubal, the Tigers' ace who owns a 1.90 ERA in seven starts, allowed two runs on six hits and no walks with 12 strikeouts in six innings, throwing 96 pitches.

The umpires halted the game before the bottom of the eighth inning, at 4:18 p.m., with the game officially called about an hour later.

"The field became more and more unplayable," Tigers manager A.J. Hinch told reporters in New York. "It got to be really dangerous. Guys couldn't run full speed. There were puddles everywhere. We tried. everybody tried. The grounds crew was amazing. (Second base umpire) Alan Porter, the crew chief, was awesome with how he communicated everything. We tried our best to get the game in, but enough was enough at the end. It's a frustrating end, but probably the smart play given the conditions of the field."

The dozen strikeouts were a career-high for Skubal, in the 82nd game of his MLB career. The fourth-year starter became the youngest Tiger (at 27 years and 167 days) to record 12 strikeouts in a game since Max Scherzer did so (at 25 years, 307 days) on May 30, 2010, when he had 14 strikeouts against the Oakland Athletics.

The Tigers (18-16) tied the game in the top of the seventh inning, but the Yankees immediately recaptured their lead in the bottom of the inning against right-handed reliever Shelby Miller and left-handed reliever Andrew Chafin, scoring three runs for a 5-2 advantage.

"There wasn't a pitcher that felt normal," Hinch said. "That was just the way it was going to be. You could see Shelby trying to wipe things off his hand and go to a rosin bag that was already saturated and wet, but it is what it is. We knew the conditions from the beginning of the game. It was raining from the beginning of the game."

Miller loaded the bases with one out as a result of two walks and one single, putting Chafin in a messy situation. Juan Soto, whom the Yankees acquired in an offseason trade from the San Diego Padres, hit Chafin's down-and-in sinker for a three-run double to right field, making it 5-2.

All three runs were charged to Miller.

Getting swept in three games by the Yankees opens a six-game road trip, which concludes with three games, from Monday-Wednesday, against the Cleveland Guardians — currently in first place in the American League Central — at Progressive Field.

Skubal strikes out 12

The Yankees were lucky to get to Skubal in the first two innings.

Aaron Judge — the 2022 AL MVP — blasted a 97 mph four-seam fastball for a solo home run to right-center field with two outs in the first inning, making it 1-0. The Yankees extended their lead to 2-0 with two outs in the second inning, when Oswaldo Cabrera smacked a ground-rule double off Skubal's hanging slider following singles from Gleyber Torres and Jon Berti.

After that, Skubal was filthy for the remainder of his start.

"There were so many reasons for him to become frustrated," Hinch said, "and even though he was a little frustrated early, he didn't concede. ... It's why we love him. He's going to do his best any chance he gets the ball."

All 12 strikeouts: Giancarlo Stanton (swinging strike, changeup) in the first inning, Jose Trevino (swinging strike, changeup) in the second, Soto (called strike, sinker), Judge (swinging strike, sinker) and Stanton (swinging strike, changeup) in the third, Alex Verdugo (swinging strike, changeup) and Berti (swinging strike, changeup) in the fourth, Anthony Volpe (swinging strike, sinker) and Soto (swinging strike, changeup) in the fifth and Stanton (swinging strike, changeup), Verdugo (swinging strike, changeup) and Torres (swinging strike, fastball) in the sixth.

Skubal struck out the side in both the third and sixth innings.

In the sixth inning, Judge smoked Skubal's sinker at the bottom of the strike zone for a leadoff double, but Skubal responded with three strikeouts in a row to complete his seventh start of the season.

After the third out, Skubal screamed in celebration before pointing at Judge while walking from the mound to the dugout. Skubal and Judge shared a smile, a sign of respect between two great players. Judge finished 2-for-3 against Skubal, while the other eight Yankees combined to go 3-for-21.

Seven of Skubal's 12 strikeouts were produced by his changeup.

His changeup recorded 12 whiffs on 17 swings from the Yankees.

Skubal dominated with that offspeed pitch, throwing 32 changeups (33%), 28 sinkers (29.2%), 21 four-seam fastballs (21.9%), 12 sliders (12.5%) and three curveballs (3.1%). He generated 18 whiffs on 45 swings — a 40% whiff rate — with 12 changeups, three sinkers and three fastballs.

Slow-to-start offense

The Tigers tied the game, 2-2, in the seventh inning, finally getting to left-hander Nestor Cortes.

Spencer Torkelson ripped a two-out double in the second inning for the Tigers' first hit. The Tigers didn't get their second hit until Mark Canha's leadoff single in the seventh.

The single from Canha sparked a two-run inning.

A one-out single from Jake Rogers chased Cortes from his start, replaced by right-handed reliever Ian Hamilton. Torkelson pulled Hamilton's two-strike slider down the third-base line and into left field for his second double of the game, trimming the Tigers' deficit to 2-1. Javier Báez followed Colt Keith's walk by beating out a double play, and when that happened, Rogers scored from third base to tie the game, 2-2.

Two runners were stranded in the seventh when left-handed hitter Kerry Carpenter, pinch-hitting for fellow lefty Parker Meadows, grounded out against left-handed reliever Victor González.

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

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers can't solve New York Yankees or weather in 5-2 loss