Cleveland – Jake Rogers was lying face down on home plate, and if this were a crime scene, his outline would have been drawn in chalk.
In some ways it was a crime scene.
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The Tigers catcher somehow turned a 261-foot fly ball into shallow center field into a two-run Little League home run, essentially stealing home, sparking an 8-2 victory over the Central Division-leading Cleveland Guardians in the first of four games Monday night at Progressive Field.
“That was awesome,” said Tigers All-Star left-hander Tarik Skubal, who pitched seven tenacious innings to improve to 11-3 with a 2.34 ERA. “And it was even better that he got safe. And he had a starfish on the plate. That’s awesome.”
Rookie Justin Henry Malloy gave the Tigers a boost with a two-run homer in the first inning off veteran right-hander Carlos Carrasco. It was his seventh home run and fourth this month.
Rogers then came up to bat with Wencel Pérez on third base with two outs in the second inning. Center fielder Ángel Martínez tried to dive to catch a soft, sinking liner. The ball went past him, and after he ran the ball, he slipped and fell, forcing right fielder John-Kency Noel to shovel it back.
“I knew it was going to be a third because he had his back to me,” Rogers said. “I was digging the ball up and I looked up and Joey was yelling like crazy.”
Third-base coach Joey Cora had no intention of stopping Rodgers at third base. Noel quickly got the ball and shortstop Brian Rocchio made a powerful throw to home plate. The ball hit Rodgers, who somehow slid headfirst and stretched his arms out to avoid a touchdown.
“I was doing my best,” Rodgers said. “I was ‘sprinting’ – that’s what the boys call it when I run. As soon as I slid in I knew I was safe. I didn’t feel like I was touched. When they saw it I got a little nervous. I was sure I’d scored. I just tried to avoid it as much as possible.”
The Guardians protested the safe call, but it was upheld. The image of Rogers lying face down at home plate was one that could not be more impressive.
“I told the trainers, he needs an oxygen mask,” Skubal said. “When he came down the tunnel, I was holding a fan over him. I said, ‘Brother, you’ve got to breathe.'”
The play resulted in a run to third and Martinez was called for an error, which Rodgers disputes.
“I have to dispute that,” the manager said. “I didn’t see the play, but from what I’ve heard, I think (Martinez) fell and the right fielder made the throw. I don’t know if the fall was an error or not. To me, that’s a home run.”
But the important thing is the Tigers gave Skubal a four-run lead.
“We scored four runs in the first two innings, so now we just have to get on them,” Skubal said. “We’re just going to focus on keeping the ball in the yards. It’s hard to score a lot of runs when you’re going from station to station.”
Skubal hasn’t started since July 12 and despite his downturn, he didn’t drag the Guardians into the game as he allowed a career-high 10 hits.
“They’re a good team,” Skubal said. “There’s a reason they’ve won 59 games. They don’t strike out a lot. They let them hit the ball, they get guys in scoring position and things work out for them. My job was to get them to hit sometimes, and I thought I did a good job at that.”
Box score: Tigers 8, Guardians 2
The Tigers used bullpen games on Tuesday and Thursday in this series, so going seven innings was crucial.
“They had a good scheme on him from first through ninth,” Rodgers said, “and they really did. But even with a good scheme, it’s hard to get consecutive hits. Scav did a good job of making soft contact and getting double plays when he needed them.”
The Guardians appeared to hold back on Skubal’s changeup in certain counts — Skubal struck out seven of 14 times at the pitch, but the average exit velocity of the six pitches the Guardians struck out was 92 mph.
“They were just going to take what they gave him,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “When you look at the three hits that Tyler Freeman got and the one that (Jose) Ramirez got to right-center field and right-center field, they were just working together as a team to make sure they kept the ball on the plate and made the changeup work.”
“That was the best approach to Tarik that I’ve seen this year.”
Skubal struck out six batters, fewer than usual, and 15 whiffs on 54 swings, also fewer than usual, but he earned the win in key at-bats. He ended the third inning with a 1-4-3 double play with two runners on base, struck out Kwan in the fourth with two runners on base, and in the fifth, he fended off a leadoff hitter Martinez’s double and struck out Jose Ramirez on three pitches.
The one run came in a tough situation in the bottom of the second when catcher Austin Hedges executed a smart bunt with two outs and the bases loaded, forcing Skubal to throw 28 pitches, but even then, he rallied from a 2-0 deficit against Steven Kwan to end the inning with a popout with the bases loaded.
“I felt like I got in a dangerous situation and the pitcher popped out and I got a little bit of momentum from there and I was able to hold them to one run,” Skubal said. “But I was tired. I gave up 10 hits. I felt like I was pitching every inning in the stretch, but the stretch pitches are the most important.”
Matt Beiring (two doubles) and Mark Caña each had three hits. Caña and Pérez (two hits) hit consecutive doubles to add another run in the sixth inning to remove Carrasco. Pérez advanced to third on a throw to home plate and scored the sixth run on one of Gio Urshela’s two sacrifice flies.
Rookie Colt Keith hit three strong hits but failed to show his true potential, giving up his 10th home run of the season in the ninth inning.
The Tigers (50-51) have won four of their last five games against the Guardians and are enjoying their best record in baseball in the month of July (12-5).
“This is team baseball,” Skuval said. “We’re giving it our all. Our defense is good, our offense is timely, our pitching is good. You can see that in the guys in this room. A lot of guys are committed to winning every day, and I’m looking forward to doing that again tomorrow.”
chrismakosky@detroitnews.com
