Graded: Pick No. 16. Skubal went 6 and the bullpen gave both runs back
The call, committed before first pitch: Dodgers win. Confidence High.
The result: Dodgers 2, Tigers 1. gamePk 824231, Final on the id.
Record: 9-7.
The pick was right and the reason was wrong
The entry leaned on Skubal. He was the headline, he was the reason the game was worth writing about, and the argument was that a 2.79 ERA over 96.2 innings in this park does not stop being true because the shirt changed.
He was very good. 6 innings, 4 hits, no walks, 7 strikeouts, and the only run Detroit scored all night came off him: Max Clark tripled in the 5th and Eduardo Valencia came home. Then Los Angeles pulled him after 6 with the game tied 1-1.
So the starter Detroit could not beat left with the game level. The pick did not cash on Skubal. It cashed on the thing that was in the last paragraph of the preview.
| What the pick leaned on | Friday |
|---|---|
| Skubal, 2.79 in Detroit, 3.38 in Los Angeles | 6 IP, 4 H, 0 BB, 7 K, 1 ER, no decision on the outcome |
| Detroit 27 saves, 28 blown | both Los Angeles runs came off the bullpen |
| Anderson, the reason to be nervous | 4.2 IP, 4 H, 5 BB, 0 earned |
Drew Anderson walked 5 men in under 5 innings and did not give up a run. That is not a repeatable way to pitch and it is also the best start he could have given this club. He handed over a tie.
Then Drew Sommers gave up a Miguel Rojas single in the 6th that scored Enrique Hernandez, and Jacob Waguespack gave up a Freddie Freeman single in the 8th that scored Teoscar Hernandez. 2 runs, both after the starter left, in a game decided by 1.
The number that should have been the lede
Los Angeles left 15 men on base.
Nine hits, four walks, and 2 runs out of it. That is a night where a team beats itself and Detroit still lost, because Detroit put 5 hits and 1 run on the board against a pitcher who used to work here.
If you want the honest version of Friday: neither offense showed up, and the club whose bullpen is 27 for 55 in save chances is the club that had to hold a tie for the last 4 innings.
Detroit is 62-72. Snell against Montero Saturday at 1:10, and that one is already on the board.
Not betting advice.
Got a Detroit number you want looked at? Email projectunmuted@proton.me and it gets looked at properly. A stat somebody quoted that smells wrong, a thing you have always assumed about one of these 4 teams and have never seen checked. Every question that arrives is listed with its answer, including the ones where the answer is no.