CLEVELAND — The Tigers’ late-season swoon has left several players trying to do too much, trying too hard to play the hero. But until Tuesday, doing too much wasn’t in Tarik Skubal’s vocabulary. The reigning American League Cy Young and Triple Crown winner so often found new levels over the past two years that “too much” seemed nonexistent.
Then came a sixth inning that Skubal will want back, a go-ahead three-run Guardians rally that came together on a series of Skubal miscues and left Skubal holding his head in his hands on the dugout bench when it was finally over.
Nearly a year after Lane Thomas’ grand slam in Game 5 of the AL Division Series, it was a completely different path to a similar fate. The only ball that reached the outfield was the one that Skubal threw there.
“A lot of unfortunate things kinda happened there to end up giving up three and giving up the lead,” Skubal said.
Like a few balls in that inning, the AL Central is now out of the Tigers’ grasp. Detroit (85-72) and Cleveland (85-72) are tied in the standings after the Tigers’ seventh consecutive loss. But Cleveland’s 5-2 win Tuesday at Progressive Field clinched the season series for the Guardians, earning them the tiebreaker should the two teams finish the season with identical records.
The Tigers, now holding the third and final AL Wild Card spot, still control their destiny. Win the next two nights, and they’ll head to Boston with a two-game lead in the division standings with three games to play.
But every time they seem to gather themselves, a new calamity seems to find them. This time, it found the normally unflappable Skubal, who dominated Cleveland for five scoreless innings on two hits before the Guardians showed contact was their friend.
“We’re doing a lot of uncharacteristic things, and it’s hurting us,” manager A.J. Hinch said.
Skubal took the mound for the sixth inning with a 2-0 lead when Steven Kwan dropped a bunt in a near-perfect spot in front of home plate, leaving Skubal and catcher Dillon Dingler without a play as Kwan dashed to first.
From that point on, Skubal’s toughest opponent was himself. Martínez laid down another bunt to advance Kwan. Skubal bent over to field it, his back to first base, as Martinez sped past him. Determined not to allow back-to-back bunt singles, Skubal’s only chance at an out was to try something unorthodox.
He had attempted the between-the-legs throw to first before. This one, however, looked more like a long snap to a punter. The ball sailed over first baseman Spencer Torkelson’s head and into foul ground in right field, putting runners at second and third with nobody out for José Ramírez.
“He was in a tough position to make that play in general, and didn’t want to wheel and throw it down the line,” Hinch said. “So instead, he chose to do the emergency flip, which is not easy to do, and it obviously didn’t produce a good play. That is an example of an uncharacteristic mistake piling up on us at the worst time.”
Skubal put Ramírez in an 0-2 hole, but Ramírez hit a chopper down the third-base line that left Zach McKinstry with no play as Kwan scored to put Cleveland on the board.
David Fry’s attempt to bunt a 99.1 mph fastball instead resulted in a foul ball off his face that forced him from the game. After a delay of several minutes, Skubal tried to finish off pinch-hitter George Valera but spiked a changeup in the dirt, sending Martínez home to tie the game and moving Ramírez to second.
Skubal struck out Valera for the first out of the inning, but as soon as he had appeared to collect himself, he committed just the second balk of his career (and second this season) as Ramírez danced off of second base.
“It was more the noise that I heard, kinda like a fake-deke thing,” Skubal said, “and I saw it with my eyes, and I didn’t know if he wanted me to flash and turn or not. I probably should’ve just stepped off, but it’s just one of those weird plays.”
With Ramírez advancing to third base, Gabriel Arias needed only a ground ball to first to bring him home for a 3-2 Guardians lead.
Skubal struck out Kyle Manzardo, but the damage was done. He received an end-of-outing handshake from Hinch, then slumped onto the dugout bench, head in hands, eventually throwing a towel over his head. It could well become the snapshot of the Tigers’ late-season fall from the AL’s best record for a stretch this summer, and a 15 1/2-game lead entering play July 9, to fighting for their postseason lives.
