Tigers 3, Twins 0: Tarik Skubal Carves Up Helpless Twins Offense

[Hans Birkeland]

Image courtesy of © Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images

Box Score:
Starting Pitcher: Chris Paddack: 4 2/3 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 0 BB 3 K (91 Pitches, 59 Strikes, 64.8%)
Home Runs: None
Bottom 3 WPA: Brooks Lee (-.128), Paddack (-.114), Byron Buxton (-.089)
Win Probability Chart (Via FanGraphs):

The Twins somehow had a chance to take a road series against one of the league's best teams, who also happen to lead the AL Central. Standing in their way was defending Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal, and he was in no mood to make this game seem winnable at any point, finishing with 13 strikeouts across seven scoreless innings.

Byron Buxton began the game by striking out on a filthy changeup from Skubal. Ryan Jeffers followed with a routine fly out, and from there, Skubal went scorched-earth, striking out the next seven batters by locating his 98-MPH fastball wherever he wanted, and keeping the Twins off balance with his disappearing changeup, unreachable to any right-handed batter.

Chris Paddack was on the mound for the Twins and was amped, hitting 98 MPH with his fastball in the first inning. The Tigers had some trouble squaring up the fastball, but seemed content to wait for his other offerings—highlighted by Kerry Carpenter launching his 16th home run off a sloppy changeup from Paddack.

Paddack continued allowing hard contact, but was bailed out by his defense, most notably on an over-the-shoulder catch at the wall by Willi Castro that saved a sure run in the third. However, Riley Green sat on another changeup in the fourth, and launched it 381 feet to double Detroit's lead.

Meanwhile, Skubal took a perfect game into the fifth before he gave up a one-out gapper off the bat of Ty France. That proved inconsequential, as Skubal struck out Harrison Bader on yet another filthy changeup, and got Brooks Lee swinging at 99 MPH at his eyes to end it.

The Tigers pounced on that missed opportunity in the fifth. Following a hit-by-pitch of Colt Keith, Carpenter slammed a Paddack fastball up in the zone down the right-field line with two outs. Castro tried to chase it down, but it ping-ponged in the corner, which allowed Keith to score the game's third run. That was the end of the road for Paddack, as Danny Coulombe came in to retire Greene.

Skubal coasted from there, walking Christian Vázquez at one point but otherwise completely shutting down the Twins lineup. The Twins seemed to be starting a mini-rally in the eighth against Tommy Kahnle, with Bader singling to start the inning and Lee hitting a sharp grounder to the hole between first and second. But Spencer Torkelson made an excellent play, spearing the ball and making a great feed to second, with Lee unable to beat out the twin-killing.

Stray Observations:
-Skubal is the best left-handed starter in the game, with all due respect to Max Fried and Garret Crochet. He throws harder, has better mound presence, and goes deeper in games. He's an absolute menace.

-I wonder if Paddack has any trade value left, now that his ERA has settled back into the mid-4s. The problem is that you can't market him as an innings-eater, as he has been one of the least durable pitchers in baseball, and you can't say he'd be a difference-maker, since he's never been that effective. Maybe other teams are interested in a really nice guy who never backs down from a challenge, even though he will almost always lose said challenge.

"Who will save us from the alien invasion?!"

Paddack: "I'll do it."

"Chris Paddack? Wasn't he sort of good in 2019, but spent the last six years hurt and ineffective?"

"I'm gonna save the day. I'm a sheriff."

"Wow he's so loyal and nice! Hopefully the aliens won't sit on his offspeed and breaking pitches."

"Oh, he's dead."

What’s Next: The Twins head to Miami for an off day Monday, before beginning a series against the Marlins. Joe Ryan (8-3, 2.86 ERA) opposes Edward Cabrera (2-2, 3.78 ERA) as the Twins try to start salvaging their season with the trade deadline getting closer and reinforcements on the way—either in or out.

Postgame Interviews:

Coming soon

Bullpen Usage Chart:

	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN	TOT
Wentz	0	0	0	48	0	48
Sands	0	31	0	12	0	43
Topa	0	8	0	0	30	38
Jax	9	0	23	0	0	32
Varland	17	0	15	0	0	32
Stewart	0	13	0	0	14	27
Coulombe	0	16	6	0	1	23
Durán	9	0	9	0	0	18

 

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[thelanges5]

Gleeman:

Twins went 9-18 in June, with a -45 run differential.

Twins' pitching staff posted an MLB-worst 6.07 ERA in June.

That's the highest ERA for the month of June in Twins history.

[BH67]

Skubal en fuego.

[Vanimal46]

We were the sacrificial lamb tonight. From the second the lineup was announced you could predict the outcome. Vazquez and Bride playing on national TV. Just a joke 

[tony&rodney]

Miami has been playing well in the last week with a 7 game winning streak. They swept San Francisco and Arizona. Good chance for the Twins to move forward into a new month. 

So much talk about selling at the deadline or resigning Bader, Castro, or others. The team is for sale, so I highly doubt there will be much going on until something gets decided. That could be taking the team off the market. Either way, there will need to be some cuts given the lack of media revenue and declining attendance. I'm done with thinking about this issue.

What I am looking forward to is a resurgence by the starting pitchers, led by Ryan, and some better plate appearances and more runs from the offense. 

[Riverbrian]

Those Tigers look pretty good. I don't know how they do it with so much youth and so many left hander hitters.

The Motor City Kitties faced the Twins with a roster that contains 15 pre-arb players at the moment. They still have 3 solid pre-arb players on the IL.

The Twins brought 10 pre-arb players to Detroit (3 DFA's Clemons, Bride and Wentz). 

The Tigers current record is: 53-32

The Twin current record is: 40-44

 

[jkcarew]

No runners left in scoring position! Nice to see.

[Vanimal46]

Jonah Bride DFA’d after this game per Dan Hayes. Lewis gets rushed back to MLB without recording a single hit in his rehab assignment. 

[Mike Sixel]

1 minute ago, Vanimal46 said:

Jonah Bride DFA’d after this game per Dan Hayes. Lewis gets rushed back to MLB without recording a single hit in his rehab assignment. 

Ugh. On the Lewis part. Bride shouldn't be on a roster..

[Western SD Fan]

2 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

Jonah Bride DFA’d after this game per Dan Hayes. Lewis gets rushed back to MLB without recording a single hit in his rehab assignment. 

This may be an unpopular opinion given that Bride's best contributions in the month of June have been his pitching prowess, but rushing Lewis back again seems like a bad idea and we have seen the results of this Nickelodeon Melodrama play out before earlier this year.

[USAFChief]

1 minute ago, Western SD Fan said:

This may be an unpopular opinion given that Bride's best contributions in the month of June have been his pitching prowess, but rushing Lewis back again seems like a bad idea and we have seen the results of this Nickelodeon Melodrama play out before earlier this year.

Pity there aren't other options.

 

[Aggies7]

Now who’s gonna eat those innings Bride gave us? 

[Vanimal46]

3 minutes ago, Aggies7 said:

Now who’s gonna eat those innings Bride gave us? 

You know what we were all clamoring for? More Joey Wentz outings 

[jkcarew]

6 minutes ago, Aggies7 said:

Now who’s gonna eat those innings Bride gave us? 

All we can do is pray that he clears waivers.

[S Bart]

AS Tony the Tiger says...They're GR-R-REAT

[S Bart]

I watched Lewis in Saturday's Saints game....he has been DH mostly...not sure he is ready to return.  So far...0-2..0-3....and 0-3 with the Saints during his most recent rehab. They had better be careful with him. 

[USAFChief]

16 minutes ago, jkcarew said:

All we can do is pray that he clears waivers.

I've got a good feeling about this.

Fingers crossed.

[Western SD Fan]

13 minutes ago, S Bart said:

I watched Lewis in Saturday's Saints game....he has been DH mostly...not sure he is ready to return.  So far...0-2..0-3....and 0-3 with the Saints during his most recent rehab. They had better be careful with him. 

That's my fear for rushing him back up.  Lewis will have to play on a regular basis in order to get his timing back.  I'm concerned Lewis will again go for an 0fer Twenty-something, and we will again be languishing because we rushed him back so soon because he will be another hole in the lineup already full of holes.

[RpR]

3 minutes ago, Western SD Fan said:

That's my fear for rushing him back up.  Lewis will have to play on a regular basis in order to get his timing back.  I'm concerned Lewis will again go for an 0fer Twenty-something, and we will again be languishing because we rushed him back so soon because he will be another hole in the lineup already full of holes.

Or that is how good he really is.

[Dave Borton]

1 hour ago, Vanimal46 said:

...Vazquez and Bride playing on national TV. Just a joke 

Actually, it is a true representation of this franchise (insert very sad emoji here).

[mikelink45]

All I can say is Skubal once again demonstrated that wins matter and good pitchers get them if they have a good manager 

[Western SD Fan]

2 minutes ago, RpR said:

Or that is how good he really is.

And that is quickly becoming a definite possibility.  The last thing that Lewis really has is his confidence and I believe that if the FO ends up shattering his confidence by continually bringing him up quicker than necessary, he may end up being Bride 2.0.

[knothole61]

2 hours ago, Vanimal46 said:

Jonah Bride DFA’d after this game per Dan Hayes. Lewis gets rushed back to MLB without recording a single hit in his rehab assignment. 

Bride is a Milwaukee kid who will soon turn 30...I hope that the Twins are through with him. He looks much more potent without the 1950s sport glasses, although it's just an illusion! Nothing personal and I wish him well, but I can't stand the thought of watching him bat any more. 

The Twins managed two hits tonight before the big national audience...very sad.

[knothole61]

I know that the aesthetics of it are not pleasing, and that purists will say that if he can't be counted on to go 100%, 100% of the time he should just pack his bag, but I think for Lewis to contribute to the Twins in a meaningful way, he'll need to be coached to run the bases at a controlled 75% effort, most of the time.

It's hard to pull a hamstring at a reduced speed. He should have no trouble fielding at third base or shacking around the bases. The pulls occur when you get up on your toes and extend, and surge for at least 10-15 hard strides. If you have the inclination to pull, and Lewis clearly does, no amount of stretching or whatever "vibration technologies" they may have today (I may have made that up?) will keep him from risking a pull any time he puts the pedal to the metal...any time.

I think he can find his hitting stride again, (maybe .900s in OPS?) but I wouldn't have him try to find his full running stride again. It's really not a sellout, just common sense in my humble opinion.    

[Fezig]

8 hours ago, Riverbrian said:

Those Tigers look pretty good. I don't know how they do it with so much youth and so many left hander hitters.

The Motor City Kitties faced the Twins with a roster that contains 15 pre-arb players at the moment. They still have 3 solid pre-arb players on the IL.

The Twins brought 10 pre-arb players to Detroit (3 DFA's Clemons, Bride and Wentz). 

The Tigers current record is: 53-32

The Twin current record is: 40-44

 

One way Detroit does it is not having Baldelli for a manager.

[Riverbrian]

21 minutes ago, Fezig said:

One way Detroit does it is not having Baldelli for a manager.

Maybe

Hinch is doing it with 15 players that add up to around 11M in payroll. Which is about the same price as Vazquez alone.

 

[Doctor Wu]

Not much to say. Another depressing loss, but we were facing one of the best pitchers in baseball, so at least it's not a total embarrassment. Still time to right this ship but I'm not very optimistic. 

[Whitey333]

Nice article.  Pure dominance by Skubal and Tigers.  I didn't expect too much going into the game but it was embarrassing.   Lewis has proven he's not the answer.  I hope he does well but I'm not counting on it.  This franchise isn't nearly lifted in the minors as they led us to believe.  All hype and hope these Twins.

[jmlease1]

8 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

All I can say is Skubal once again demonstrated that wins matter and good pitchers get them if they have a good manager 

Skubal demonstrated that he's a great pitcher. I don't think his manager had anything to do with what happened out there today. Do you think Paddack would have gotten the win if we'd switched managers yesterday? 

This team struggles against LHP for sure but Skubal is the reigning Cy Young winner and pitching like he wants to go back to back. He's been great all season. He's put up a Game Score under 50 only 3 times this season, never had a single one under 40. by contrast, nearly half his starts he's put up a Game Score of 70 or better. He's absolutely dominant.

Hope Lewis is actually ready, but won't miss Bride, who sucked. Offense is healthy, no excuses left for them.

 

[CRF]

Can you say "overmatched"? Yep.