ATLANTA – Detroit Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal gave everyone an injury scare in the seventh inning. He removed his glove, shook his left arm and rubbed his left elbow.
Manager A.J. Hinch, assistant athletic trainer Kelly Rhoades and catcher Dillon Dingler took a mound visit to check on him, but after throwing a practice pitch, Skubal stayed in the game.
A healthy Skubal stayed sharp during the third time through the order as he completed the sixth and seventh innings, but the Tigers' bullpen let him down in a 4-3 loss to the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday, April 29, in the second of three games in the series at Truist Park.
The Tigers wasted Skubal's strong finish, as Matt Olson blasted a walk-off two-run home run off right-handed reliever Kenley Jansen in the ninth inning.
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Skubal owns a 2.70 ERA over 43⅓ innings in seven starts.
The 29-year-old retired the final eight batters he faced, including all six (four by strikeout) in his third trip through the Braves' lineup. Opponents entered Friday hitting .433 with a 1.014 OPS against Skubal during his third time through the order in his first six starts, but he shut down the Braves.
The series finale between the Tigers (15-16) and Braves (22-9) is set for Thursday (12:15 p.m., Detroit SportsNet) in a matchup between left-hander Framber Valdez for the Tigers and right-hander Bryce Elder for the Braves, with Detroit needing a win to avoid a series sweep.
In Wednesday's game, Skubal finished better than he started.
The Braves took a 2-0 lead in the first inning, thanks to a single from Drake Baldwin and a two-run home run from Ozzie Albies after Ronald Acuña Jr. stuck out swinging to open the inning.
On the homer, Albies turned on Skubal's up-and-in fastball and pulled it 400 feet with a 102.1 mph exit velocity.
It was only the second homer allowed by Skubal in his seven starts.
Absolutely crushed! 💥@ozzie | #localforddealer pic.twitter.com/oTt81zr0mJ
From there, Skubal – the reigning two-time American League Cy Young winner – dominated the Braves with efficiency throughout the remainder of his start.
He received help along the way from third baseman Colt Keith, who made diving plays in the first and sixth innings and started double plays in the fourth and fifth innings.
The Tigers immediately answered the Braves with two runs in the second inning, facing right-hander JR Ritchie.
A double from Wenceel Pérez and a walk from Jace Jung set the table for Kevin McGonigle. The AL Rookie of the Year favorite delivered once again, ripping a first-pitch changeup for an RBI single, scoring Pérez. Moments later, Jung scored on Ritchie's wild pitch.
Riley Greene drove Ritchie's middle-away changeup to the left of straightaway center field for an opposite-field home run. He hammered the ball 417 feet with a 106.2 mph exit velocity, for his fourth homer in 31 games.
Skubal needed 23 pitches to complete the two-run first inning, then used just 10 in the second, 12 in the third, 13 in the fourth, seven in the fifth, 10 in the sixth and 16 in the seventh.
He struck out the side in the seventh after the injury scare, sending down Olson (97 mph fastball, swinging), Austin Riley (96.9 mph fastball, swinging) and Mauricio Dubón (81.1 mph curveball, swinging).