MINNEAPOLIS — The last time Tarik Skubal gave up a home run to a left-handed hitter, Freddie Freeman took him deep to right-center field at Comerica Park. It was July 12, 2024, the Friday before last year’s All-Star break. When Twins first baseman Edouard Julien got a 95.1 mph sinker at the top of the strike zone and crushed it a Statcast-projected 410 feet to the right-field concourse Thursday night at Target Field, it marked just the second lefty-lefty home run Skubal had given up since the start of last season and the first since Freeman.
Thirty-nine days before that, then-Astros reliever Rafael Montero tossed a scoreless eighth inning in relief before Houston rallied against the Cardinals to earn Montero the victory. It was his last Major League win until he took the mound Thursday with two outs in the 10th inning, the potential winning run on base and Byron Buxton at the plate.
Montero had been outrighted to the Minor Leagues and traded twice since his last win, including to the Tigers two weeks ago. With the final four outs of Thursday’s 4-3 win in 11 innings over the Twins, the former World Series champion had his first big moment as a Tiger.
“This is a big shot of trust in myself,” Montero said through translation by Tigers manager of Spanish communications and broadcasting Carlos Guillen. “I started the season pretty bad, and we’ve been working and [trying to] get better and better.”
Skubal got his second straight no-decision. But by holding the Twins scoreless after Julien’s home run fueled a three-run third inning off him, he not only gave the Tigers a chance to rally, he gave himself a chance to make adjustments to find out what had gone awry early.
“Just kind of been fighting myself a little bit physically, probably mentally, too,” Skubal said. “Said some things to myself that I won’t say on camera, but went out there and just tried to be aggressive and go out there and compete. I just feel like I haven’t been executing pitches at the clip that I’m accustomed to, and that’s frustrating.”
The fight showed in Skubal’s walk back to the dugout after a couple of innings, his glove in front of his face as he muttered in frustration.
The 99-100 mph fastballs Skubal unleashed in the sixth and seventh innings suggest he’s physically healthy. But it took a series of between-innings sessions with pitching coach Chris Fetter to try to figure out how to get back in sync.
“Sometimes, you slow your body down a little bit, thinking that would work,” Skubal said. “Or you’re trying cues that usually get you back on track. I just kind of haven’t found the one that’s clicked. And then, as the game went on, I got better and got to a better rhythm. Early, just fighting myself more than anything.”
It wasn’t just the three runs and four hits Skubal allowed in the third inning. Skubal recorded just five swinging strikes in his first 18 batters. He didn’t record a strikeout until his 67th pitch of the night, an 86.9 mph changeup he sent past Austin Martin to end the fourth inning. It marked the most pitches he’d thrown in a game before recording his first strikeout.
That strikeout of Martin started Skubal on a roll, his first of 10 consecutive batters retired to finish his outing. Three were by strikeout.
“I think [catcher Dillon Dingler] did a great job of getting me back dialed in,” Skubal said. “And sitting with [Fetter] and [assistant pitching coach] Robin [Lund], we’re looking, watching video, trying to figure out why the ball isn’t coming out as hot as it usually does.”
Montero knows the process, having struggled at various points this season. His process to get back to prime form began late last year with the Astros, where coaches sent him to the Minor Leagues to work on a splitter to replace his traditional changeup. When the Tigers acquired him at the Trade Deadline two weeks ago, they saw an opportunity to unlock more consistency from him.
“We’re working on a daily basis, especially with the fastball,” Montero said. “It used to be cutting naturally, but here we’re working on keeping it straight.”
After retiring Buxton to end the 10th inning, Montero stayed in for the 11th after Gleyber Torres’ go-ahead sacrifice fly. Kyle Finnegan and Tyler Holton had already pitched, and Will Vest was unavailable after pitching three of the previous four days. Montero struck out Ryan Jeffers and Royce Lewis, the latter with Buxton on third as the potential tying run.
“I’m ready to be used at any moment,” Montero said. “My goal is to help this team to win.”
