ANAHEIM, Calif. - Tarik Skubal gave the Tigers exactly the kind of start that lets everything else fall into place, and Spencer Torkelson made sure the game never got close.
Detroit rolled past the Angels 7-0 on Saturday night behind seven shutout innings from Skubal and a two-homer night from Torkelson, taking its second straight in Anaheim and setting up a chance to sweep the series on Sunday.
Skubal, the reigning two-time American League Cy Young Award winner, worked seven innings for the first time since April 29. He struck out nine, walked none and allowed five hits in his longest outing since before his elbow surgery. In his previous two starts, he had been limited to five innings each.
The Tigers have now won 24 of 38 games since June 1 and enter the series finale 5 1/2 games back in the AL Central, behind the tied Cleveland Guardians and Chicago White Sox, and 3 1/2 games out in the AL wild-card race, with five teams between them and third-wild-card Boston.
Detroit will try to finish off the sweep Sunday with right-hander Casey Mize on the mound.
The offense wasted no time shaking off whatever lingering stiffness it carried in from a quiet stretch. The Tigers had scored only two runs in Friday’s 2-1 win, ending an 18-inning scoreless run that stretched through the All-Star break. That didn’t last long.
In the first inning against Angels right-hander Grayson Rodriguez, Kevin McGonigle doubled, Dillon Dingler was hit by a pitch, Colt Keith lined an RBI single to center, and Torkelson unloaded a 415-foot three-run homer to left-center. Just like that, Detroit was up 4-0 before Skubal even settled in.
The Tigers kept the pressure on in the second. James Outman singled, McGonigle followed with another hit, Dingler was hit by a pitch for the third time in three plate appearances dating back to Friday, Keith lifted a sacrifice fly and Riley Greene added another sacrifice fly. The result was a 6-0 lead and a lineup that looked locked in from top to bottom.
Torkelson wasn’t finished. He added a solo shot later to push the margin to 7-0 and bring his season total to 18 home runs.
Keith had a big night of his own, going 4-for-4 with two RBIs.
With that kind of support, Skubal could attack the zone and work ahead. He breezed through the first five innings before running into a little bad luck in the sixth.
Logan O’Hoppe singled to right on a 0-2 pitch, then Mike Trout dropped a soft popup into short right for another hit. With two on and one out, Skubal recovered by getting Vaughn Grissom to ground into a double play.
He responded with a fist pump and a scream as he walked off the mound, clearly pleased to escape the jam. Skubal was done after 87 pitches, and A.J. Hinch’s handshake ended a night in which the Tigers’ bullpen could stay fresh.
Jacob Waguespack handled the eighth, but the Angels loaded the bases with two outs before Hinch turned to Kyle Finnegan. Finnegan got Grissom to line out to center and close the door.
Sunday’s finale will feature Mize, who is 4-6 with a 2.79 ERA, against Angels right-hander Ryan Johnson, who is 1-4 with a 6.75 ERA. First pitch is set for 4:07 p.m., and after that the Tigers head to Chicago for three games against the Cubs on Monday through Wednesday.
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