Tigers finish what Tarik Skubal started in shutout win over Royals

Detroit — They had to wait a few extra hours, thanks to a persistent rain storm that caused the game to be suspended after four innings Wednesday night, but Miguel Cabrera’s latest milestone hit, four innings of pure dominance by Tarik Skubal and the Tigers’ 8-0 win over the Kansas City Royals are finally in the books.

The Tigers were up 4-0 when the rains shut things down Wednesday and the final five innings ended up being a formality on a still dreary Thursday afternoon at Comerica Park.

"You want to get the win and not have to do what we just did," Skubal said. "I felt pretty good, so it's unfortunate the weather shut that down. Being my last start of the year, too, kind of sucked."

Relievers Miguel Diaz and Brenan Hanifee each pitched a pair of scoreless innings and then Trey Wingenter got the last three outs to finish off what Skubal started. It was the 14th shutout pitched by the Tigers this season.

They added a pair of runs without a hit in the fifth off reliever Steven Cruz, who walked three and hit another. He walked Cabrera with the bases loaded to force in one run. The other scored on a ground out by Andy Ibanez.

Jake Rogers capped the scoring in the bottom of the eighth, lining his 21st home run of the season, a two-run bullet to left.

Most of the fireworks came in the rain Wednesday night.  

Cabrera, who seems to thrive in poor atmospheric conditions, slugged his 511th career home run in the rain in the second inning. And it was no cheapie. The ball left his bat at 106 mph and flew 397 feet over the newly moved-in wall in right-center field.

"The only difference was it wasn't in the snow," manager AJ Hinch said, referencing Cabrera's snow-globe homer on Opening Day in 2021. "Miggy really kick-started the night."

It was a vintage oppo-blast by Cabrera that moved him into a tie with Mel Ott for 25th on the game’s all-time homer list. It was his 373rd homer as a Tiger, tying Norm Cash for second-most in club history.

He also singled and scored in the fourth, bringing his hit total to 3,170. He trotted home on a three-run, pinch-hit homer by Tyler Nevin — another productive string pulled by Hinch.

On Tuesday night, Hinch used left-handed hitting Akil Baddoo to pinch-hit for right-handed hitting Carson Kelly against a right-handed reliever. Baddoo slugged a first-pitch home run.

Wednesday night, Hinch sent right-handed hitting Nevin to pinch-hit for Baddoo against lefty reliever Angel Zerpa after Ibanez doubled Cabrera to third.

Nevin drove a 94-mph heater on a 1-2 count over the wall in right field. It was his second pinch-hit home run of the season.

Crew chief Marvin Hudson called for the tarp before Skubal could throw a pitch in the top of the fifth. Which was a shame because he was at just 52 pitches and seemingly on his way to an eight- or nine-inning outing.

"I guess it was because of the puddles," Skubal said with a wry grin. "But you'd think we'd be able to get through 10 more minutes."

It might not have taken that long, the way he was dispatching hitters.

"He's been incredible," Hinch said. "It's been fun to watch him get back up and running. We had the governor on him early (rationing his workload for the first few starts) and the only thing that stopped him last night was the rain. He was in complete control of the game and I've used that phrase virtually every time he's started."

Against nine right-handed hitters in the Royals’ lineup, Skubal used the changeup as his primary pitch and racked up eight strikeouts in four scoreless innings. He got seven swinging strikes on 15 swings with the changeup, 14 whiffs on 28 swings overall.

Impressive.

"Coming back, really, I couldn't have scripted it any better," said Skubal, who finishes his abbreviated, post-surgery season with a 7-3 record, 2.80 ERA and sub-1.0 WHIP. "I'm proud of the way I went about it. I'm proud of the way I came back. I like where I'm at going into next season."

chris.mccosky@detroitnews.com

Twitter/X: @cmccosky