Tarik Skubal shoved four scoreless innings with eight strikeouts, Miguel Cabrera blasted the 511th home run of his 21-year career, Tyler Nevin hit an unexpected three-run home run, and the Detroit Tigers were three outs away from ending the second of three games against the Kansas City Royals at Comerica Park.
Steady rainfall suspended Wednesday’s game after four innings.
The Tigers needed three outs to make the game official, but the grounds crew rolled the tarp onto the field ahead of a 1-hour, 20-minute rain delay. Eventually, the Tigers and Royals decided to suspend Wednesday’s game. Play resumed at 1:10 p.m. Thursday, and the Tigers finished off the Royals, winning 8-0.
“He really kick started the night,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said of Cabrera on Thursday. “We were three outs away from it being over last night, but we got to come back today and have equally as fun of a day. Now, we get to the next game.”
The Tigers (75-83) claimed sole possession of second place in the American League Central, ahead of the Cleveland Guardians by a half-game. After Thursday’s series finale against the Royals, the Tigers and Guardians finish the regular season with a three-game weekend series at Comerica Park.
Cabrera, who put the Tigers ahead 1-0 with a solo home run in the second inning Wednesday, wasn’t supposed to play Thursday, but because of the suspended game, he stepped into the batter’s box in the fifth inning Thursday. He worked a five-pitch walk against right-handed reliever Steven Cruz with the bases loaded, increasing the Tigers’ lead to 5-0.
“We didn’t finish the game, so the same lineup comes in,” Hinch said of Cabrera’s usage. “We talked a little bit today about a couple of things, but we’ve laid out the plan for him all along.
“We wanted him to finish this game, but he’s not playing the second game. He’s at least not starting, but he’ll be available.”
Cruz struggled to throw strikes.
Before Cabrera’s walk, Cruz offered free passes to Matt Vierling (walk), Spencer Torkelson (walk) and Kerry Carpenter (hit-by-pitch). He got Andy Ibáñez to ground into a force out, which made it 6-0, and struck out Tyler Nevin to end the fifth inning.
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In the second inning, Cabrera torched a first-pitch fastball from right-hander Jonathan Bowlan. The 40-year-old drove the ball with a 106.1 mph exit velocity for a 397-foot home run to right-center field.
“It’s meaningful because he wants to win the game,” Hinch said. “I can’t say it enough, he wants to win the games. Is it his last homer? I don’t know. We got to play the next four games to find out, but reflecting back on it, that was vintage Miggy. That’s how he hits.”
With 511 homers, Cabrera tied Mel Ott for 25th on the all-time list.
Cabrera singled and scored on Nevin’s three-run home run in the fourth inning before inclement weather suspended the game. He lined out to center field in the seventh inning and finished 2-for-3 with two RBIs and one walk.
Finishing strong
The Tigers replaced Skubal, who threw 52 pitches over four shutout innings, with right-handed reliever Miguel Díaz to open Thursday’s fifth inning. He sent down six batters in a row to take the Tigers through the sixth inning.
“All right-handers except for (Drew) Waters in the lineup,” Hinch said. “If they wanted to pinch-hit and run a string of lefties there, he’s got the changeup. If not, he’s got the nasty sinker. We saw the ground-ball contact. The slider he’s been working on has been better. He’s also going to factor pretty heavily on Saturday in the bullpen game.”
Right-handed reliever Brenan Hanifee pitched the next two innings. He worked around a one-out single from Nelson Velazquez in the seventh inning and a two-out single from Dairon Blanco in the eighth inning. Hanifee ended the second appearance of his MLB career by striking out Maikel Garcia looking at a down-and-away sinker painted on the corner of the strike zone.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Jake Rogers turned on a two-strike, two-out slider from right-handed reliever Jackson Kowar for a two-run home run to left-center field. The Tigers took an 8-0 lead.
It was Rogers’ 21st home run in 105 games this season.
Right-handed reliever Trey Wingenter retired all three Royals he faced in the top of the ninth inning. Center fielder Parker Meadows robbed Velazquez of a solo home run to end the game.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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