CLEVELAND — Tarik Skubal pitched seven innings while continuing to be mentioned in trade rumors and Justyn-Henry Malloy hit a two-run homer to lead the Detroit Tigers to an 8-2 victory over the Cleveland Guardians on Monday night.
Skubal (11-3) gave up a season-high 10 hits but just one run as the All-Star overcame several jams. The lefty has been linked to potential trades with several contenders as the July 30 trade deadline approaches.
Malloy scored in the first inning against Carlos Carrasco (3-8) as the Tigers beat the AL-Central leaders for the fourth time in five games.
Cleveland has lost three straight and is just 2-7 since July 10th. The teams play five more times over the next eight days.
The Guardians have struggled on offense and have been unable to land a key hit against Skubal. Steven Kwan, the majors’ leading hitter, came up with the bases loaded in the second and struck out two in the fourth.
Over the weekend, the Guardians went 3-for-55 while losing two straight games to the San Diego Padres.
Detroit took a 4-0 lead in the second, helped by two errors in center field by Guardians rookie Angel Martinez.
With a runner on first and two outs, Tigers catcher Jake Rogers hit a sinking liner and Martínez narrowly missed with a diving run. The ball passed behind, allowing Wenceel Pérez to score easily first time, and when Martínez slipped while trying to recover it, Rogers turned around and scored with a header.
Rogers was credited with a triple and Martínez charged with an error.
Struggling for any offense, the Guardians loaded the bases in the second but only advanced one run on No. 9 hitter Austin Hedges’ surprise single.
The Tigers were up 2-0 after just three hits.
Matt Vierling led off with a double hit off the left field wall. One out later, Malloy hit a Carrasco sinker into the stands for his seventh home run — and fifth in 15 games. He has 12 RBIs in the period.
UNEQUALED
For the third day in a row, second baseman Travis Bazzana, drafted No. 1 overall last week by the Guardians, did pregame fielding drills.
Bazzana, who received an $8.95 million signing bonus, will soon report to Cleveland’s Single-A affiliate Lake County.
Manager Stephen Vogt is very impressed with the 21-year-old.
“Good boy,” Vogt said. “Very, very well said. He’s motivated.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Guardians: LHP Matthew Boyd’s solid outing (four innings, five strikeouts) at Double-A Akron didn’t hasten his return from Tommy John surgery. The hope is that Boyd can join the rotation in August. “Obviously we’re excited,” Vogt said. “He’s with us and we want him to play for us, but the most important thing is that he comes out of rehab healthy and ready to go.”
NEXT
Tigers manager AJ Hinch is planning two bullpen games in the series, with the first on Tuesday. The Guardians will counter with RHP Xzavion Curry (0-2, 5.19 ERA).
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