Tarik Skubal leads Detroit Tigers, but Parker Meadows saves game in 6-2 win over Mariners

Detroit Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal allowed a two-run home run in the fourth inning.

Besides that, Skubal shut down the Seattle Mariners through seven innings Saturday, allowing two runs on three hits and two walks. The Tigers rode the momentum from Skubal's success to a 6-2 win over the Mariners in the second of three games in the series at T-Mobile Park.

In the eighth inning, center fielder Parker Meadows robbed what would've been a go-ahead, two-run home run from Cal Raleigh, who had homered off Skubal earlier in the game. Right-handed reliever Jason Foley tossed his arms in the air to celebrate as the ball came back into the field of play, and simultaneously, Meadows pumped his right arm with the ball nestled in the webbing of the glove on his left hand.

"It was a huge play and a game-changer," manager A.J. Hinch told reporters in Seattle. "It feels even bigger after we score a bunch in the ninth. It's all preparation. It's how easy he moves, he knows where the wall is, timely jump. He's really good out there, as we know, and he continues to make plays."

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The Tigers (55-60) have won back-to-back games.

Skubal, a 27-year-old who owns a 2.57 ERA in 23 starts, retired the first 10 batters before Randy Arozarena hit a middle-middle changeup for a one-out infield single that shortstop Javier Báez stopped but couldn't field cleanly. And then Raleigh smacked a middle-middle sinker for a 427-foot two-run home run to center field. His 24th homer trimmed the Tigers' lead to 3-2.

From then on, Skubal found himself in a couple of situations where he could've faltered.

He succeeded in each challenge.

In the fifth inning, Mitch Garner hit a two-out double, but Skubal responded by striking out Leo Rivas for the third out. In the sixth, Skubal walked Arozarena with one out and Justin Turner with two outs, but he utilized a slider to induce a groundout from Jorge Polanco. Skubal fielded the grounder from Polanco near the third-base line and threw the ball to first base to end the inning.

It was a beautiful play.

"That was a huge play," Hinch said. "That's a tough play for anybody. We will hear more about that one as the days come, and we should, because in the world of helping yourself out, he did a lot to love, and that athletic play is one of them."

Skubal returned to the mound for the seventh and retired all three batters, but not with ease. Dylan Moore lined out on a full-count slider, Mitch Haniger struck out swinging on an eighth-pitch slider and Garver struck out swinging on a fifth-pitch changeup.

The two strikeouts in the seventh inning pushed Skubal's total to nine against the Mariners. He struck out four batters through the first three innings. He generated 21 whiffs on 51 swings — a 41.2% whiff rate — with 12 changeups, four fastballs, three sliders and two sinkers.

His changeup was incredible.

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Catch of the year?

The Tigers replaced Skubal with Foley for the eighth inning.

Foley took down the first two batters when Josh Rojas struck out swinging and Victor Robles grounded out. Arozarena injected life into the Mariners with a two-strike, two-out double to right field off Foley's sinker that leaked up in the strike zone.

Raleigh delivered his second long drive of the night on a two-strike slider from Foley, clearing the wall in center field. But Meadows — an elite defender in center — stuck his glove over the wall.

Meadows robbed Raleigh of a two-run, go-ahead home run, ending the eighth inning. Injured outfielder Riley Greene was one of the first players to congratulate Meadows when he returned to the dugout.

Three big swings (and then some)

The Tigers scored one run apiece in the first, third and fourth innings, facing right-hander George Kirby.

Leadoff hitter Wenceel Pérez battled for seven pitches, smoking a 98 mph fastball for a solo home run to right field. Six of the seven pitches from Kirby were fastballs.

Just like that, the Tigers grabbed a 1-0 lead over the Mariners.

Bligh Madris chipped in an RBI double in the third for a 2-0 lead.

After that, Jake Rogers destroyed an elevated fastball for a 406-foot solo home run to left field in the fourth, making it 3-0. Rogers, despite hitting .194, has eight homers in 69 games this season.

Kirby, who owns a 3.13 ERA in 24 starts, allowed three runs on seven hits and one walk with seven strikeouts across five innings. He generated 16 whiffs on 48 swings for a 33.3% whiff rate.

Following Meadows' catch, the Tigers padded their lead, 4-2, with back-to-back walks from Rogers and Pérez off right-handed reliever Jonathan Hernández, leading to Matt Vierling's RBI single. A two-run single from Gio Urshela, facing right-handed reliever Trent Thornton, extended the lead to 6-2.

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

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