Tigers' Skubal strikes out nine in 9-1 win over Brewers

Chris McCosky, The Detroit News on Apr 14, 2025

Published in Baseball

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MILWAUKEE — Manager AJ Hinch was joking about former Detroit Tiger Tyler Alexander before the game.

“He labeled his fastball ‘The Express’ from the get-go,” Hinch said. “I know we have two power lefties going at it tonight.”

That last was in reference to a text exchange Alexander had with Tarik Skubal last weekend. After he found out he’d be matched against Skubal Monday, he texted, facetiously, that it would be a matchup of two power lefties.

“On the record,” Hinch said with a smile, “our guy is just a little more powerful.”

A bit.

Skubal was in Cy Young form Monday, perfect through four innings and dominant for seven in the Tigers’ 9-1 romp over the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field.

He struck out nine and allowed only four singles, capping his outing with five strikeouts over his last two innings.

The only time he was threatened was in the sixth. The Brewers loaded the bases with two outs and Rhys Hoskins was in the box. Hoskins had gotten the first hit off him leading off the fifth.

Hoskins laced a first-pitch four-seamer foul down the line in left. That four-seamer was 96 mph. Skubal shifted into overdrive after that. He finished Hoskins off with 99.5 and 99.6 mph heaters.

He let out one of his patented primal screams after that one, well-earned. After striking out the last two hitters in the seventh, he left to a standing ovation from a large group of Tigers fans seated behind the dugout.

Skubal, now on a run of 13 straight scoreless innings, had his entire arsenal working Monday. His four-seamer and sinker both averaged 98 mph. His slider was effective to both sides of the plate. But his changeup was diabolical. And he leaned on it, throwing it more often (31 pitches) than his four-seamer (23).

The average velocity was 88 mph and the horizontal break on it averaged 17 inches and maxed at 20 inches. He got nine whiffs on 15 swings at it.

As for Alexander, it was not the joyous reunion he might have hoped for. His former mates treated him quite rudely. And he didn’t get much support from his current mates, either.

The Tigers scored eight runs off Alexander in four innings, four of them, though, were unearned.

Right-handed hitters Justyn-Henry Malloy (single, walk, RBI), Gleyber Torres (walk, single, three RBI), Andy Ibanez (two hits, two RBI) and Dillon Dingler (RBI double) did most of the damage.

They roughed him up a different way in the second inning. After a walk and an error by shortstop Joey Ortiz set up an RBI single by Malloy, Torres ripped a ball (103.6 mph off his bat) up the middle that caromed off Alexander’s right foot.

He was in obvious pain, but he stayed in. The next hitter, Ibanez, hit another ball right at him. This time Alexander knocked it down and got the out. He gave a snarky look toward the Tigers’ bench as he walked off, as if to say, “I thought we were buds.”

The Tigers broke the game open with four runs in the fourth inning and it was a throwing error by Alexander that helped open the floodgates. He threw a bunt by Ryan Kreidler way over the head of first baseman Hoskins.

After Malloy walked, Torres delivered a two-run single to left. It was a hard-hit ball and left fielder Jackson Chourio charged it. But third base coach Joey Cora fearlessly waved Kreidler home. Chourio’s throw was far off line.

The Tigers challenged the arm of Chourio in the first inning, too, when Torres scored from first on Ibanez’s double into the left-field corner. Again, Torres beat the throw comfortably.

An RBI single by Ibanez and a sacrifice fly by Spencer Torkelson capped the scoring in the fourth.

The Brewers replaced Alexander in the fifth with another ex-Tiger, Elvin Rodriguez. Kerry Carpenter, in keeping with the rudeness theme, hit his second pitch 403 feet over the wall in right-center. His fifth homer.

The Brewers scored a run off reliever Kenta Maeda in the ninth on a two-out single by Joey Ortiz. Maeda had set down five straight before hitting Hoskins in the helmet with a slow breaking ball.

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