Tarik Skubal strikes out 7 in 7 scoreless innings, Tigers beat Phillies 4-1

Skubal (9-3) gave up three hits and a walk while hitting one batter.

“That’s one of the better performances we’ve seen this season,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “He’s got really good stuff and he’s coming right behind you. He should be an All-Star.”

Andy Ibáñez had two hits, including a two-run single in Detroit’s four-run fifth inning, as the Tigers ended a seven-game losing streak against the Phillies.

Bryce Harper homered off Tigers closer Jason Foley in the ninth. He has three doubles and two homers — good for six RBIs — in the first two games of the series.

The game was expected to be a pitchers’ duel between likely All-Stars: Skubal and Ranger Suárez.

Suárez (10-2) held Detroit scoreless for four innings, but gave up four runs in the fifth.

“He was doing well, but I’ve seen him better,” Thomson said. “There have been many games where he was ahead much more than tonight, but he fought.”

Philadelphia, which had won its last three games 24-3, had its best chance to score before the Tigers broke through.

Harper’s double put the Phillies runners on second and third base with two outs in the third, but Skubal eliminated Alec Bohm on a grounder to second base.

Justyn-Henry Malloy and Jake Rogers started the fifth with singles. Ryan Kreidler failed to hit a bunt, but was given an infield single when Trea Turner couldn’t field his slow grounder cleanly.

“I think (Turner) wanted to turn the ball over to (Bohm) for the out on third down, and he just rushed it,” Thomson said. “It just came out of his glove.”

Matt Vierling, who hit a triple play on Monday, drove in the first run of the game with a groundout short.

Ibáñez made it 3-0 with a line drive through the retracted infield. Mark Canha grounded out, but Riley Greene hit a hard grounder that got past Harper for an RBI triple.

“(Suárez) is a tough pitcher. He’s always one pitch away from getting out of a double play situation and you can’t run against him,” Hinch said. “We had some timely hits, we had some soft hits and we ran the bases a little bit.”

Seranthony Dominguez replaced Suárez for the seventh and immediately walked Kreidler, ending Philadelphia’s streak of 140 batters without a base at wide.

The first pitch of the game was at 6:40 PM, meaning it is officially classified as a night game. However, because the game was played in just 2:04, the final out was recorded 29 minutes before Tuesday’s sunset at 9:13 a.m. in Detroit.

The teams conclude the three-game series on Wednesday afternoon, with RHP Spencer Turnbull (3-0, 2.63) facing his former team. The Tigers are expected to throw multiple relievers.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb