Tigers’ Tarik Skubal looks to give bullpen some rest vs. Cardinals

With their starting pitching in flux, the Detroit Tigers would welcome a bounce-back performance from reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal on Tuesday night.

Skubal (4-2, 2.67 ERA) will draw the start in the middle game of a three-game road series against St. Louis after the Cardinals won the opener 11-4 on Monday night.

The Tigers gave up 16 hits. Manager A.J. Hinch used reliever Sean Guenther for one-third of an inning as his opener in the game, and he deployed catcher Tomas Nido to get the final five outs to spare his bullpen in the blowout loss.

“As the game went on and the game got out of hand, of course you’re managing for tomorrow and the next day and the next day,” Hinch said.

Hinch will use a bullpen start in the series finale Wednesday afternoon and push scheduled starter Jack Flaherty back to Thursday.

The Tigers made a roster move ahead of this series, placing starting pitcher Reese Olson (finger inflammation) on the 15-day injured list and recalling pitcher Chase Lee from Triple-A Toledo.

Given all of that, the Tigers could use innings length from the left-handed Skubal, who is coming off his most difficult outing of the season. He allowed five runs on seven hits and a walk in 6 1/3 innings against the Boston Red Sox last Wednesday.

Skubal allowed three of those runs in the seventh inning of the game, which the Tigers won 6-5. He did not figure into the decision.

“There’s nobody better to have on the mound at that point, pitch count under control. He had really good stuff,” Hinch said. “Just a couple of pitches that he didn’t execute at the end.”

Skubal struck out 11, giving him 42 strikeouts in his past four starts. In three career starts against the Cardinals, he is 0-1 with a 7.71 ERA.

The Cardinals have won 13 of their past 15 games overall and are 16-6 at home. On Tuesday, they will start Erick Fedde (3-3, 3.44 ERA), who threw 14 2/3 scoreless innings in his most recent starts against the Washington Nationals and Philadelphia Phillies.

Fedde, a right-hander, is 0-1 with a 3.09 ERA in two career games against the Tigers.

Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol adjusted his batting order ahead of this series, dropping clean-up hitter Nolan Arenado to the No. 6 spot and moving first baseman Willson Contreras and designated hitter Ivan Herrera up one spot.

Herrera went 2-for-5 with two runs and two RBIs to extend his hitting streak to nine games, and Contreras drove in a run and scored.

“We did a really nice job of executing our plan, and getting guys on base and continuing to add pressure,” Marmol said. “That’s one thing we definitely wanted to do today.”

Arenado went 0-for-4 but drove in a run with a forceout grounder. Batting .241, he acknowledged he has been searching for his hitting stroke for much of the season.

“I don’t know, I don’t really have an answer,” said Arenado, a career .284 hitter. “Just play better. Play more the way I think I’m capable of, but it’s been a minute since I felt like I could play the way I should. I don’t know if it’s coming back or not.”

–Field Level Media