PLAINFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- Just over a month after he had minimally invasive elbow surgery to replace a bone fragment in his left elbow, Tarik Skubal looked like he had not taken a day off in his rehab appearance for the West Michigan Whitecaps on Sunday afternoon.
On a sun-splashed afternoon in front a standing room-only crowd of 8,967 at LMCU Ballpark, the Detroit Tigers' ace southpaw pitched five innings of shutout ball against the Dayton Dragons in leading the Whitecaps to an 8-0 victory. Skubal made such quick work of Dayton that the game lasted only 2 hours, 10 minutes. He threw 54 pitches in the game. He got a standing ovation when he walked off the field behind the centerfield wall. He tossed about 15 more cool-down pitches in the bullpen.
This clip is audio of the postgame media gaggle: https://clyp.it/kwfhvf2z . {Photos attached}
Skubal told reporters after his outing that he felt good and had his pitches working effectively, and credited catcher Bennett Lee with calling a good game behind the plate in terms of suggesting which pitches to throw, and when. Skubal mixed in a variety of pitches and a couple of his fastballs were clocked at 99 miles per hour. He struck out the first two Dragons batters - Carlos Sanchez and top Cincinnati Reds' prospect Alfredo Duno - on six pitches.
Ryan Harvey (2.05 ERA) pitched two innings of scoreless relief after Skubal left the game, and Luke Stofel and CJ Weins (2.28 ERA) tossed one relief inning each.
After the game, Skubal said he was not sure when his first start for the Tigers since the ailment was detected would be.
The Whitecaps scored two runs in the first, third and fifth innings and added single runs in the 6th and 7th innings. The Dragons only mustered six hits on the day. Dayton starter Reynardo Cruz incurred the loss, dropping his season record to 1-2, with a 5.69 ERA. He gave up six earned runs - and one unearned run on an error. Relief pitcher Graham Osman allowed the other Whitecaps run in his one inning of work.
In the bottom of the first inning, Woody Hadeen singled, advanced to second on a wild pitch by Cruz, and then marched home on a two-run homerun by Whitecaps centerfielder Jackson Strong, his fifth of the season. In the top of the second inning, Skubal struck out Yerlin Confidan on a changeup after throwing a 99-mile-per-hour fastball on the pitch before. He then fanned John Michael Faile, giving Skubal four strikeouts through his first two innings on the mound. At that point, he has thrown 23 pitches, 18 of which were strikes.
In the Whitecaps' third inning, Junior Tilien led off with a double. Woody Hadeen was then hit in the foot by a pitch. The runners advanced to second and third bases, respectively, on a groundout by Strong. Garrett Pennington then hit a two-run single to centerfield to give the Whitecaps a 4-0 lead. The way Skubal had been pitching, that - for all intents and purposes - polished off the Dragons for the day. Skubal struck out his sixth Dayton batter in the fourth inning and had registered 37 strikes on 46 pitches. He pitched one more inning in the fifth, ending his day with six strikeouts, two hits allowed and no earned runs.
Hadeen went 2-for-2 for the Whitecaps at the plate, including a double and three runs scored. He was hit by pitches twice in the game. Designated hitter Ricardo Hurtado had a double, two walks and two RBI for the Whitecaps, who had 10 hits in the game and 18 total bases.
The Whitecaps notched four victories during the six-game homestand against the Dayton Dragons (31-26) and scored 19 total runs in the last two games of the series. The next home game at LMCU Ballpark will be June 16, when the Lansing Lugnuts will come calling for a six-game stint, including Star Wars Night on Saturday, June 20.
West Michigan (20-27) now goes on the road for a six-game series beginning Tuesday at 6:05 p.m. in East Lake, Ohio, against the Lake County Captains.