The weather is getting warmer, and so is two-time Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal.
Including the postseason, Skubal racked up double-digit strikeouts in 12 starts last season.
The Detroit Tigers left-hander notched a season-high 10 strikeouts in Boston on Saturday during his last start, and he should have pristine weather conditions to employ his formidable arsenal against the visiting Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday afternoon.
Temperatures are expected to reach the mid-70s during the series finale in Detroit. Skubal hasn’t required big strikeout totals to be effective. He’s given up just one run in four of his five starts this season.
Skubal (3-2, 2.08 ERA) limited the Red Sox to one run and four hits in six innings despite pitching in 45-degree weather. He cruised through the first four innings but got into jams in the fifth and sixth, which increased his pitch count and prevented him from going deeper into the game, which Detroit won 4-1.
“He rarely misses like he did (Saturday) where he fell behind multiple batters in a row,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “I just thought he was in battle-mode. It looked like he was in control. He was missing bats and using his whole arsenal, and he won some big at-bats. That was the key for him. He stayed mentally into the game and didn’t get too frustrated with a few big misses.”
A nasty change-up helped him increase his strikeout total.
“The change-up performed better (Saturday),” Skubal said. “But I still think there is room for improvement. I need to be able to throw it in the zone and out of the zone when I need to. I need to execute pitches out of the zone early in counts to where those aren’t six- and seven-pitch at-bats and end them in three to four pitches.”
Skubal, who has won his past two starts this season, has been dominant in two career outings against the Brewers, holding them to one run in 13 2/3 innings, with 19 strikeouts.
Right-hander Brandon Sproat (0-1, 6.88 ERA) will be his mound opponent on Thursday. He’s coming off his best outing of the season, as he held Toronto to one run and four hits in 6 2/3 innings a week ago in Milwaukee’s 2-1 victory.
“I think the biggest thing was keep the rhythm up,” Sproat said. “Just get the ball and go. Don’t think about anything else. Just attack, attack, attack, and I think we did a really good job of that (Thursday).”
Sproat, 25, still is looking for his first major league victory. He’s made eight appearances over the last two seasons, including six starts. Sproat, who has never faced the Tigers, got a mental boost in his last outing.
“Just that I’m capable,” he said. “Capable of going out there and making good pitches, getting a ground ball when needed. Giving it my all. That was the big word (Thursday). (Manager Pat Murphy) told me, ‘You’re more than capable,’ and hearing that from him is definitely a boost in confidence.”
The teams have split the first two games of the series. Detroit bounced back from a 12-4 drubbing on Tuesday with a 5-2 win on Wednesday. First baseman Spencer Torkelson, who hit 31 homers last season, broke through with his first long ball this season.
–Field Level Media
