Skubal fans five, allows leadoff HR as U.S. wins

Great Britain’s Nate Eaton greeted Team USA’s Tarik Skubal with a home run to lead off the game Saturday night, as the defending American League Cy Young Award winner made his only start of the World Baseball Classic in Houston as the Americans cruised 9-1.

Eaton, 29, an infielder and outfielder for the Boston Red Sox who had just one home run and four RBIs last season, took the game’s first pitch to deep left-center field to give Britain a 1-0 lead before Skubal retired Jazz Chisholm Jr., Harry Ford and B.J. Murray to end the inning. Skubal threw 12 of his allotted 55 pitches for the start in that frame, nine of which were strikes.

In the second inning, Skubal continued to settle, retiring the side in order on 12 pitches. He struck out Justin Wylie to end the inning. In his third and final inning, Skubal struck out three, allowing only Eaton to reach on an infield single.

“Unbelievable stuff, bottom line, 98 miles per hour, devastating changeup, slider,” Team USA manager Mark DeRosa said in his dugout interview on the Fox broadcast during the third inning. “But that will be it for him.”

Team USA’s offense woke up after Skubal departed. Kyle Schwarber homered, and Alex Bregman and Gunnar Henderson drove in two runs each in the win.

Skubal allowed two hits on 41 pitches, 30 of them resulting in strikes, in his outing. He struck out five and walked none before being removed. Clay Holmes, a starter for the New York Mets, replaced him to start the fourth inning with Britain leading 1-0.

“It was a first-pitch fastball, and he went out and got it,” Skubal said of Eaton in his dugout interview on Fox. “We wouldn’t be talking about it if he missed it. I was just getting to my pitches, and the results were the results after that.”

Skubal was asked about the differences between pitching for Team USA and the Tigers.

“This is a great atmosphere. My legs were a little light there early in the game, and that means you’re in a really cool environment,” he said. “This is one of those games that there’s just different emotions that run through you that don’t really run through you when you’re playing in the big leagues.”

Before the start, Skubal, the Detroit Tigers‘ ace, addressed his future with the club, telling USA Today Sports that he never received a long-term offer from the team this offseason and that there were no negotiations during the arbitration window that ended with the ace pitcher getting a record deal.

“There is no offer,” Skubal told the outlet, “and there won’t be an offer until the end of the season. … My focus is on playing baseball and winning this year. I’ll deal with the contract stuff at the end of the year, and then we’ll kind of see. And that’s fine. It’s their decision.”

The two-time American League Cy Young Award winner and the Tigers had a $13 million gap in their arbitration offers, with the left-hander seeking $32 million. Skubal won his arbitration hearing in early February, besting the record salary for a player in the arbitration system by $1 million and shattering the previous mark of $19.9 million for an award from a panel.

Skubal is expected to seek a contract of at least $400 million, which would be a record for a pitcher. But Skubal indicated he was moving on from the arbitration hearing and any contract talks, and he is focusing on winning in Detroit this year.

“That’s where my focus is, trying to win a World Series for the city of Detroit, the team that drafted me in 2018,” Skubal said. “The Tigers’ fans are excited; they’re really invested in this club, and so are we.

“… You can kind of see that a World Series is attainable with the additions that we’ve made. And that’s all you can ask for, is to play on a team with World Series aspirations year in and year out. So, it’s going to be a ton of fun this year.”