Tigers' Skubal sharp, but Jansen allows walk-off homer vs. Braves
The Tigers dropped to 15-16 after a 4-3 walk-off loss against the Braves.
Atlanta – Another body-blow. The Atlanta Braves, the winningest team in baseball, walked the Tigers off in the bottom of the ninth. Matt Olson lined a two-run homer off Kenley Jansen, giving the Braves a 4-3 win at Truist Park.
It wasted a strong effort by Tarik Skubal. If you want a signature moment from Tarik Skubal’s seven-inning gem Wednesday, how about his three-pitch strikeout Robert Acuna, Jr. , in the third inning.
He got him to take an ugly half-swing at an 88-mph slider, then froze him with a 95-mph sinker and blew him away with a 98-mph four-seam fastball. Or maybe it was the strikeout of Mauricio Dubon to end his outing in the seventh. He hadn’t thrown a curveball all game, until he spun it on a 2-2 pitch, getting an ugly didn’t-mean-to swing from Dubon.
Skubal, the two-time reigning American League Cy Young winner, struck out the dangerous Acuna three times. He mixed four-seamers and sinkers with changeups and sliders, getting 16 whiffs on 47 swings (6 on 15 four-seamers). He gave up some hard contact early, but the only smear on his ledger was a first-inning two-run homer by Ozzie Albies.