Detroit Tigers doomed by defensive misplays in 8-6 loss to Marlins: Game thread recap
Detroit Tigers (47-58) at Miami Marlins (56-49)
When: 1:40 p.m. Sunday.
Where: LoanDepot Park in Miami.
TV: Bally Sports Detroit.
Radio: WXYT-FM (97.1 in Detroit; Tigers radio affiliates).
Probable pitchers: Tigers LHP Tarik Skubal (1-1, 3.71 ERA) vs. Marlins LHP Jesús Luzardo (8-5, 3.22).
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Tigers lineup:
LF Matt Vierling
2B Andy Ibáñez
1B Spencer Torkelson
CF Riley Greene
SS Javier Báez
C Jake Rogers
DH Miguel Cabrera
RF Kerry Carpenter
3B Zack Short
P Tarik Skubal
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Game notes: It’s tough to imagine Tarik Skubal’s return from flexor tendon surgery going better than it has in his four starts. Yes, there were the seven runs allowed to the woeful Royals in Kansas City on July 18. But all of those runs — and all eight hits he allowed in that game — came in just two innings. In Skubal’s other 15 innings combined — covering starts against the Athletics, Blue Jays and Giants — Skubal has allowed four hits, two walks and no runs while striking out 23. That includes Monday’s outing vs. San Francisco in which Skubal allowed singles in the second and fifth inning while striking out nine in five innings.
Much of Skubal’s success comes from a revved-up four-seam fastball; he’s averaging 95.7 mph, 1.6 mph faster than he averaged in 2022 and 1.4 mph faster than his 2021 average. That has resulted in a 56% strikeout rate and a .093 expected batting average. That four-seamer strikeout rate is tied for third among all pitchers in 2023, behind only Tampa Bay’s Zach Eflin (963.2%) and Shawn Armstrong (58.3%).
Jesús Luzardo, meanwhile, appears to finally be delivering on the promise that got him to the majors at age 21, all the way back in 2019. The first Peru-born player in MLB, Luzardo comes from a Venezuelan family; he played for Team Venezuela in this spring's World Baseball Classic along with Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera. Luzardo is in his fifth MLB season now and coming off a dominating performance against the Colorado Rockies — yeah, we know — last Sunday: 13 strikeouts, two walks, four hits and one run allowed over seven innings. That brought Luzardo to 144 strikeouts in 120⅓ innings — a 10.77 strikeouts-per-nine-innings rate that was fifth among NL pitchers entering Saturday.
After today’s matchup, the Tigers have Monday off before heading to Pittsburgh for a two-game set beginning Tuesday night — after the trade deadline, which, you may have heard, is set for 6 p.m. Tuesday, with plenty of Tigers pitchers supposedly on the block. The Marlins, meanwhile, jump right into a four-game series against NL East (and wild-card berth) rival Philadelphia on Monday night. Say hi to Nick Castellanos and Gregory Soto for us, fellas!
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Contact Ryan Ford at rford@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers lose to Miami Marlins, 8-6: Game thread recap
