RESOLVING THE LEDGER
This is one outlet's own report from Yahoo Sports — the article as it was filed. Other outlets are covering the same event; open the full story to compare every source side by side.
See the full story · 1 sourcesDetroit — If this game doesn’t sum up this manic baseball season, nothing will.
In what might’ve been Tarik Skubal’s final start, the bullpen blew a seven-run lead in the final three innings, and the Tigers took another punch to the face, losing in 12 innings to the Baltimore Orioles , 10-9.
The Orioles scored the go-ahead run on a two-out single by Colton Cowser. Lefty Drew Sommers got two quick strikes on him but Cowser worked the count full and slapped a broken-bat single up the middle.
This was the 18th loss the Tigers have endured after leading in the seventh inning or later. This one cost them a series to the Orioles, a team they are trying to chase down in the Wild Card race.
The Tigers could not score the free runner in the bottom of the 12th. Lefty Grant Wolfram struck out Dillon Dingler and got Riley Greene to bounce out to second.
With runners at second and third, right-hander Andrew Kittredge entered and got Eduardo Valencia to bounce out.
The emotional swings were coming every half inning.
In the top of the 11th against reliever Jacob Waguespack, Leodys Taveras' sacrifice bunt put runners at second and third and both scored. Christian Encarnacion-Strand, the free runner, scored on a sacrifice fly to right field, though Zack McKinstry's strong throw made the play close.
Jackson Holliday plated the second run with an opposite-field single off left Drew Sommers.
The Tigers tied the game in one swing in the bottom of the 11th. Spencer Torkelson blasted a first-pitch slider from right-hander Rico Garcia. His 20th homer scored Eduardo Valencia, who was the free runner.
BOX SCORE: Orioles 10, Tigers 9 (12 innings)
The Tigers missed a great chance to end the game in the 10th.
After rookie shortstop Kevin McGonigle ended the top of the 10th by turning a diving catch into an inning-ending double-play, the Tigers had the free runner at third base with one out. The Orioles gave Riley Greene an intentional pass for the second time in the game but Valencia bounced into an inning-ending double-play.
For six-plus innings, the crowd of 34,406 stood and cheered, celebrating perhaps the last Skub day.
As the Tigers built a 7-0 lead, Skubal breezed into the seventh inning. He posted his 1,000 th career strikeout right out of the gate, punching-out leadoff hitter Taylor Ward with a 3-2 changeup.
Despite giving up some loud contact, he had allowed only two hits in six scoreless innings.
With a runner on and two outs in the seventh, Skubal walked Coby Mayo. Manager AJ Hinch came out to talk to Skubal. His pitch-count was approaching 90. The crowd booed when he came out, then cheered when he left Skubal in the game.
That third out didn’t come, though.
Skubal gave up an RBI single to Leody Taveras.
That ended Skubal’s day, but the seventh inning lingered. Reliever Kyle Finnegan lost a 12-pitch battle to Jeremiah Jackson (walk) and gave up RBI singles to pinch-hitter Jackson Holliday and Ward.
By the time Drew Anderson got the final out, it was a 7-5 game and Skubal’s line was a little dirtier.
Skubal ended up with three runs on his ledger in 6.2 innings. He struck out six. The Orioles produced 11 hard-hit balls against him with an average exit velocity of 93 mph.
The Orioles tied the game in the seventh on a two-run triple to dead center by Coby Mayo off Anderson. The inning was extended when Gleyber Torres threw late to second base on a ground ball by Dylan Beavers.
Anderson rallied to strike out Taveras and Yohel Pozo and strand the go-ahead run at third base. But that did not stop the cascading boos that rained down on the Tigers as they ran off the field.
The Tigers built the seven-run lead against Orioles’ lefty starter Trevor Rogers, and they got a lot of help from some shoddy defense. Four of the seven runs were unearned.
Matt Vierling, who doubled and scored in the third inning, had to leave with an apparent left leg injury after he tripled in the fifth. He lined a ball to center field that skipped past centerfielder Traveras and rolled to the wall.
Third base coach Billy Boyer was waving Vierling around third but Vierling had to hold up. It appeared he tweaked something in his left leg, perhaps a hamstring.
He was replaced by Zach McKinstry who delivered a two-run in the sixth.
Javier Baez had a pair of hits, knocked in two and scored twice from the No. 9 spot in the order.
This story will be updated.
@cmccosky
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Tigers waste big lead, Tarik Skubal's milestone in disastrous loss
AIPROPX is an independent multi-source news index — we track, compare, and connect coverage from across the web into one place you won't find anywhere else.