Facing Detroit Cy Young Award contender Tarik Skubal might not be the ideal way for the scuffling Cleveland Guardians to get back on track.
Aiming for his 11th victory, Skubal looks to help the Tigers send the Guardians to a season-high third straight home loss Monday night.
Cleveland leads the American League Central but is mired in an 8-13 rut.
After returning from the All-Star break to record 11 hits in Friday’s 7-0 home win over the San Diego Padres, the Guardians totaled one run and three hits while losing the series’ final two games.
Cleveland has managed 17 runs and 58 strikeouts while batting .174 across its current 2-6 stretch. Sunday’s defeat marked just the Guardians’ second series loss at home, where they are 31-13.
However, manager Stephen Vogt isn’t panicking.
“I think we’re going fine. … Keep doing what we do,” Vogt said.
“(Adversity) is gonna happen. It’s how you respond to it.”
Though Cleveland took two of three from the Tigers at home in May, it was outscored 24-14 while dropping three of four at Detroit earlier this month.
The Guardians will get their first look this season at Skubal (10-3, 2.41 ERA), who is amid a career year and has been one of the majors’ best pitchers.
Skubal made his first All-Star team this season and pitched a scoreless second inning for the AL in Tuesday’s Midsummer Classic at Arlington, Texas.
The left-hander went 2-0 with a 2.08 ERA in his final four starts before the All-Star break.
In his most recent outing on July 12 against a potent Los Angeles Dodgers lineup, Skubal yielded two runs on two hits over six innings. He walked one and struck out eight in the Tigers’ 4-3 loss.
“He’s a firecracker,” Detroit catcher Jake Rogers said.
“He’s just competing his butt off out there.”
Of course, with Skubal’s success and the Tigers needing a lengthy surge to become serious 2024 playoff contenders, the inevitable trade rumors are swirling around Detroit’s star.
“I have no say in (being traded), so what’s the point (in talking about it),” Skubal said during All-Star week.
Skubal, who has allowed just one run and seven hits over 11 innings in his last two starts at Cleveland, only must worry about helping the Tigers get back on track.
Their four-game winning streak ended Sunday with a 5-4 road loss to the Toronto Blue Jays. Justyn-Henry Malloy’s fifth-inning grand slam gave Detroit a 4-3 lead, but it couldn’t hold on.
Still, the Tigers are amid a 10-3 stretch and are set to face scheduled Guardians starter Carlos Carrasco (3-7, 5.02 ERA).
Though the veteran right-hander has recorded a quality start in just four of his 17 outings this season, Carrasco is 1-1 with a 3.33 ERA in his last five.
He allowed two runs – one earned – and six hits over five innings in his most recent outing, a 2-0 road loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on July 12.
“This guy knows how to pitch, and that’s the one thing with (Carrasco), we know he is going to give us an opportunity to win,” Vogt said.
Carrasco is 12-9 with a 3.56 ERA in 31 career appearances (25 starts) against Detroit, which he last faced in 2020.
Riley Greene, the Tigers’ other All-Star, has hit safely in eight straight games. Greene has not faced Carrasco, but he went 5-for-8 in Detroit’s two most recent games against Cleveland on July 10 and 11.
Meanwhile, Guardians star Jose Ramirez is 7-for-17 with two doubles and a triple versus Skubal.
–Field Level Media