Detroit Tigers bail out bullpen with 4-run rally in ninth in 8-7 win over Yankees

TAMPA, Fla. — The Detroit Tigers rallied to beat the New York Yankees, 8-7, on Sunday at George M. Steinbrenner Field, evening their record at 1-1 in Grapefruit League play in spring training.

What happened

The Tigers scored two runs in both the first and second innings, thanks to Javier Baez, Spencer Torkelson and Robbie Grossman. Left-hander Tarik Skubal blanked the Yankees through his two innings.

Grossman opened the first with a four-pitch walk against Yankees starter Luis Severino, and Baez drove him in with a two-strike double — turning on the jets to reach second base — to the right-center field gap. It was Baez's first hit in a Tigers uniform.

"Two-strike hitting matters," Hinch said of Baez's double. "He's not giving anything away, and he's going to hit in the middle of our order for that reason."

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Torkelson continued the first-inning success with a two-strike single to right field, plating Baez for a 2-0 lead. Grossman blasted a two-run home run in the second, his second homer in two games this spring, for a 4-0 advantage.

Holding onto a 4-3 lead, Tigers right-hander Nivaldo Rodriguez pitched the sixth inning. He loaded the bases, one single and two walks, and 23-year-old Oswaldo Cabrera blasted a two-out grand slam, putting the Yankees ahead 7-4.

The Tigers rallied in the ninth.

With one out, Isaac Paredes started it off with a single to left off right-hander Michael Gomez, who entered for the Yankees to begin the inning. Jacob Robson walked, bringing the tying run to the plate in veteran Jack Lopez. Lopez then doubled to left, sending a shot off the glove of third baseman Armando Alvarez to score Paredes. Parker Meadows followed that with a single to right on a 1-1 count to score Robson and Lopez, tying it at 7-all. Meadows wasn’t done, as he quickly stole second base and advanced to third on a wild pitch.

After Willi Castro's walk, Kody Clemens chased Gomez with a single to center to drive in Meadows for an 8-7 lead. Matt Minnick entered and retired Josh Lester to end the Tigers’ rally. Right-hander Ricardo Pinto got the final three outs for a two-inning win.

"It feels great," Clemens said. "I'm just trying to have as many quality at-bats as possible. Everybody's trying to get in a good rhythm right now. It's early, but I'm super proud of myself. I worked hard this offseason to come out strong when the opportunity is there for me. Super happy with how it's going."

Starting off

Skubal fired two scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk with four strikeouts. He threw 31 pitches (20 strikes) in the game, then threw another 10 pitches after his start in the bullpens.

"Slider is a little bit inconsistent, just based on the feel standpoint," Skubal said. "But my curveball feels good. I just got to hammer that out in bullpens and catch play and get a little better feel for (the slider), and I'll be fine."

For Skubal's 31 pitches, he used 18 four-seam fastballs, six knuckle-curves, five sliders, one changeup and one sinker. He racked up two swings and misses with his slider and one each with his four-seamer and curve.

His fastball averaged 94.8 mph.

"After last season and going into this season, I really wanted to start throwing more curveballs," Skubal said. "It's a good pitch for me to change pace. My slider is pretty firm. My fastball is firm. If I can just change pace and eyesight, especially since I pitch pretty vertically with fastballs at the top of the (strike) zone, if I can get a curveball off that, that's the reasoning behind throwing those pitches a little more."

The 25-year-old struck out Aaron Judge (swinging, 96.7 mph fastball), Joey Gallo (looking, 96.2 mph fastball), Giancarlo Stanton (looking, 78.4 mph curveball) and Jose Peraza (swinging, 78.4 mph curveball).

In the second, Skubal walked Gleyber Torres on four pitches and allowed a single to Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Those plate appearances put runners on the corners with one out. But Skubal retired the next two batters to escape the jam.

"I thought he was good," Hinch said. "Pretty explosive for the first day. You always wonder if guys are going to come out hot or not. He could have gone a little bit longer, but we've been conservative with him, and Casey (Mize) yesterday. Good first outing."

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At the plate

After gaining a 4-0 lead through two innings, the Tigers' bats were unproductive — until the young players and prospects took over in the ninth inning. The team tallied nine hits and five walks total.

Grossman finished 1-for-2 with one walk and two RBIs. Baez ended 1-for-2 with one RBI and one strikeout. Torkelson went 1-for-3 with one RBI. Harold Castro singled in the second inning, too.

The Tigers loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh inning: Paredes (walk), Lopez (walk) and Meadows (single). But Derek Hill grounded out to third base to strand the runners.

On the mound

Left-handed closer Gregory Soto replaced Skubal for the third inning. He struck out Rizzo swinging with a 98.7 mph sinker and Gallo looking with a 97.6 mph sinker, working around Judge's one-out hit-by-pitch

Soto threw 20 pitches, 11 for strikes.

The Tigers turned to right-handers Chase Anderson and Alex Faedo for the fourth and fifth innings, respectively. Anderson conceded two runs on three hits, while Faedo — in his first game since Tommy John surgery — gave up one unearned run. As for his velocity, Faedo's fastball averaged 93.3 mph.

"It felt really good being out there," Faedo said. "A lot of nerves going into this morning. But being out there was almost like a euphoric feeling. It was so nice to be out there, feeling the fans and feeling the guys having my back."

Rodriguez needed 26 pitches (12 strikes) to complete the sixth inning, in which he squandered the Tigers' one-run lead. He returned for the seventh and tossed a perfect inning on eight pitches.

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Three stars

1. Skubal, 2. Grossman, 3. Torkelson.

Next up

Monday vs. Toronto Blue Jays in Lakeland.

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold. Read more on the Detroit Tigers and sign up for our Tigers newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers bail out bullpen with 4-run rally in ninth in 8-7 win over Yankees