DETROIT — AJ Hinch didn’t want to give away the game plan before the game Tuesday, but he also didn’t want everyone to freak out if Tarik Skubal came out of his season debut a little earlier than might be expected.
The plan all along was to make it a piggyback start for Skubal and rookie Reese Olson. And, of course, he didn’t want the Athletics to know that ahead of time. So, he had to talk in code.
“This is kind of like a late March, early April start for him,” Hinch said. “He’s coming off a major injury and a conservative ramp back. He’s not going to go nine innings. He’s not going to throw a no-hitter or set any personal records.”
Well, hold on.
Making his first start in 337 days, since Aug. 1, 2022, after which he had flexor tendon surgery, Skubal did, in fact, pitch no-hit baseball. But only for four scoreless innings. The only base runner he allowed, All-Star Brent Rooker, was hit by a pitch.
Olson matched that, allowing only one hit, a two-out single in the seventh, in his five innings – from the fifth through the ninth.
The two pitchers combined to allow one hit with 11 strikeouts in nine innings.
And yet, it wasn't enough to secure a win against the 63-loss Oakland Athletics.
A two-out RBI single to left by Ryan Noda plated the free runner in the 10th inning off lefty Tyler Holton, giving the A's a 1-0 win at Comerica Park. It was the 11th time the Tigers have been shut out.
Oakland’s lefty starter JP Sears matched both Skubal and Olson. Sears, who had the misfortune of pitching opposite of Yankees' Domingo German’s perfect game last week, blanked the Tigers on five singles in a career-high 7.1 innings.
The Tigers had a runner at third with one out in the eighth and then the bases loaded with two outs. Right-handed reliever Lucas Erceg first struck out Spencer Torkelson and then Javier Baez to end the threat.
Oakland reliever Shintaro Fujinama, throwing 101-102 mph fastballs, struck out the side in the ninth to send the scoreless game into the 10th inning. And the Tigers stranded the free runner in the bottom of the 10th against righty Trevor May.
Skubal’s stuff was electric. His four-seam fastball was sitting at 96 mph and hitting 98, and he had command of all three secondary pitches – slider, changeup and knuckle curve.
Ask Oakland’s Nick Allen about the impact of that heater. Skubal unleased a 98-mph four-seamer on the inside black that buckled Allen so severely that he literally fell to a knee.
It was one of his six strikeouts and the last of a run of four straight over the second and third innings.
There was one scary moment. Skubal grabbed at the back of his left leg after he struck out Esteury Ruiz to start the fourth inning. Hinch and head athletic trainer Ryne Eubanks came out to check. Skubal made two warmup pitches to assure them he was OK and finished the inning.
He ended up throwing 57 pitches and 41 strikes.
Olson was equally brilliant. He expertly mixed sliders and changeups, regardless of the count, off his 95-mph four-seamer. In his five innings he allowed two base runners – a walk to Ryan Noda in the fifth and the two-out opposite-field single to catcher Shea Langeliers in the seventh.
