DETROIT — Tarik Skubal struck out nine, walked nobody and looked every bit the best pitcher in baseball for most of Wednesday night. It still was not enough.
The New York Yankees turned three swings into a 4-2 win over the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park, taking the rubber match of the series and tagging the two-time reigning Cy Young Award winner with a rare home run beating.
Paul Goldschmidt homered twice. Jasson Dominguez delivered the go-ahead, two-run shot in the sixth. Together the Yankees duo did something no team had done to Skubal since 2021.
The result kept the Yankees atop the American League. At 48-31, they hold the best record in the AL and a three-game lead in the AL East. For a lineup that managed only four hits all night, beating an arm built for October doubled as a statement.
Three swings undo a dominant Skubal
Skubal allowed four hits in six innings. Three of them left the yard.
Paul Goldschmidt set the Yankees tone on the game’s fourth pitch, driving a 3-1 fastball over the left-field wall to lead off the game. He struck again in the third, turning on a hanging curveball to left-center for his second homer of the night and his 14th of the season.
In between, Skubal was nearly untouchable. He retired nine in a row after the first Yankees homer. After the second, he retired nine more and struck out seven of them.
The sixth changed everything. Ben Rice singled for the Yankees’ first base runner who had not homered. Jasson Dominguez then worked a full count, fouled off three pitches and turned on a changeup, sending it into the left-field seats for a 4-2 lead.
It was Dominguez’s third homer of the season and his first from the right side this year. Skubal tied a career high by surrendering three home runs, the first time he had done so since 2021.
‘He’s just so tough on lefties’
Dominguez had struck out in his first two at-bats against Skubal and fell behind 0-2 in the third. The Yankees star kept his approach simple before the decisive swing.
“Skubal is one of the best,” Dominguez said. “He’s definitely a tough matchup. But I was just trying to take a good at-bat. Trying to fight him, trying to battle. That was all that was in my mind.”
Goldschmidt is now 7-for-13 in his career against Skubal, with four home runs, the most by any hitter against him. The Yankees veteran star offered no secret when asked how he keeps solving one of the sport’s toughest pitchers.
“There’s not really a recipe to try to beat him,” Goldschmidt said. “He’s got four really good pitches, he competes as good as anyone. He got me that third at-bat. Just try to get in there and compete and hopefully good things happen.”
Yankees manager Aaron Boone marveled at his veteran’s long run of success against Detroit’s ace.
“Crazy,” Boone said. “This deep in his career, he’s just so tough on lefties and obviously he’s had a good run against Tarik, who I thought was pretty great tonight. We ran into a few. Goldy got two and obviously a big one there by JD.”
Weathers outduels the ace
Lost in the home run barrage was a strong outing by the pitcher who matched Skubal pitch for pitch.
Ryan Weathers gave up two runs, one earned, over six innings. He scattered six hits, walked two and struck out six to improve to 3-5. The Yankees left-hander limited the Tigers to a Zach McKinstry RBI single in the second and a Ben Malgeri sacrifice fly in the fourth, both plating Spencer Torkelson.
Camilo Doval, Fernando Cruz and David Bednar then closed the door with three scoreless innings. Bednar locked down his 16th save and has now thrown 11 straight scoreless appearances.
The trade chatter around Skubal will only grow louder. He could be the most coveted name on the market this summer if the Tigers, at 34-46, cannot climb back into contention. The Yankees would figure to have interest, though their more urgent needs lie elsewhere.
Skubal refused to credit any adjustment period in his third start since surgery to remove a loose body from his left elbow.
“What matters right now is results, and I haven’t been good enough,” Skubal said. “I haven’t held up my end of the bargain in terms of what my team expects out of me, what I expect out of myself every time I’m out there. I’ll be better for it.”
What is next
The Yankees now head to Boston for a four-game series against the Red Sox. Right-hander Cam Schlittler, 8-3 with a 1.71 ERA, is set to start Thursday night opposite Red Sox left-hander Connelly Early.
Detroit stays home to open a series with Houston. The Tigers sit fourth in the AL Central, while the Yankees carry the league’s best record into the weekend.
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