Tigers' Tarik Skubal flirts with no-hitter in win, yields first 3-0 count hit in five years
Detroit's ace pitcher won back-to-back Cy Yong awards by consistently controlling the strike zone.
Tigers' Tarik Skubal flirts with no-hitter in win, yields first 3-0 count hit in five years originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here . Carrying a no-hitter into the fifth inning Saturday at Fenway Park, Detroit Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal yielded a leadoff single to Boston Red Sox 's Wilyer Abreu.
The back-to-back Cy Young award winner could have lost his focus. Still missing a no-hitter on his seven-year MLB resume, Skubal missed on his first three offerings to next-batter Ceddanne Rafaela. He then did something he hadn't done in five seasons, surrendering a hit on a 3-0 count .
Rafaela launched a 92-mph four-seam "get me over" fastball off the "Green Monster," settling for a double. Taking advantage of a rare Skubal lapse, the Red Sox loaded the bases with zero out when Caleb Dubin earned a four-pitch walk. Skubal regrouped and induced Connor Wong to ground into a run-scoring double play.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa flew out to center to end the inning. Skubal (3-2) rebounded and finished with 10 strikeouts in six innings as the Tigers ended a nine-game road losing streak with a 4-1 victory . Tigers' Tarik Skubal suffers rare lapse on 3-0 pitch Rafaela's hit on Skubal's three-ball, no-strike pitch was the first Skubal surrendered since Cleveland Guardians ' Jose Rameriz singled May 25, 2021.