Skubal throws 5 scoreless innings, Canha homers and Tigers beat Twins 8-2 in series opener
DETROIT (AP) — Mark Canha hit a solo homer in first inning, Tarik Skubal pitched five scoreless innings and the Detroit Tigers went on to beat the Minnesota Twins 8-2 Friday night.
Canha, Spencer Torkelson and Matt Vierling each had two hits and two RBIs, helping Detroit pull away with six runs from the fourth to the the sixth inning.
“This is the first game in a while that we got it rolling like that,” Canha said.
Despite striking out 15 times, Detroit set a season high for runs.
Skubal (2-0) gave up just two hits and two walks while striking out five.
“He was great,” Detroit manager A.J. Hinch said. “Everything that he did was vintage Tarik. He dominated the strike zone. His misses were near-misses. He was relentless at coming at guys.”
Skubal, though, was not as impressed with his outing.
“I didn't have the best feel for the fastball, but the changeup kind of made up for it,” he said.
Pablo Lopez (1-2) gave up five runs on six hits and three walks over four innings and had seven strikeouts in a 98-pitch outing.
“The batters were able to identify that I was missing my spot with my pitches, and they were letting me play me pitch,” he said. “My pitch count ran very high, which is not what I wanted to do, especially after having eight days' rest.”
Minnesota had six hits, including a pair of doubles, and is batting a major league-low .184. They were held scoreless until the ninth when Kyle Farmer hit an RBI double and Edouard Julien followed with a run-scoring single.
A familiar face in the bullpen didn't do his part to keep the game potentially within reach.
Right-hander Michael Tonkin, acquired from the New York Mets to aid an injury-depleted bullpen on Tuesday, allowed two runs, two hits and two walks in two innings in his first appearance for Minnesota since 2017.
Minnesota, which won the AL Central last season and advanced in the playoffs for the first time in two-plus decades, lost for the seventh time in nine games.
Detroit, hoping to make the playoffs for the first time in a decade, has two straight victories for the first time since a 5-0 start.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Twins shortstop Carlos Correa left the game with an oblique strain after striking out in the third inning.
“It's like a gut punch,” outfielder Byron Buxton said.
The banged-up Twins have been without infielder Royce Lewis, who was put on the injured list two weeks ago with strained quadriceps.
FOUL WEATHER
The game started on a 50-degree night, with wind chill making it feel 10 degrees colder, and 40-plus mph wind gusts after a rain delay that lasted 1 hour and 5 minutes.
“I had a heater right next to me,” Hinch said. “It’s just April in Michigan."
UP NEXT
Tigers RHP Kenta Maeda (0-1, 9.00) is scheduled to face his former team, which plans to have RHP RHP Joe Ryan (0-1, 3.18) pitch in the opener of a doubleheader Saturday.
RHP Matt Manning, who walked four and didn't give up a hit over 5 2/3 innings last week against the New York Mets, is Detroit's probable pitcher in the second game and Twins RHP Simeon Woods Richardson is expected to make his season debut.
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