Sandy Alcantara pitched seven strong innings to lead the host Miami Marlins to an 8-2 win Friday over the Tigers, who saw ace eft-hander Tarik Skubal exit early due to tightness in his left side.
The reigning American League Cy Young Award winner, Skubal (13-5) lasted just 3 1/3 innings — his shortest start since September 2021. He exited after manager A.J. Hinch and a trainer went to the mound to examine the lefty.
ESPN reported that Skubal will undergo testing on Saturday to determine the extend of the injury.
In addition to Skubal’s injury, Tigers All-Star Javier Baez left in the second inning after he fouled a pitch off his face. His nose and forehead seemed to be most impacted.
Miami (69-79) hit three homers in the opener of a three-game set, including seven-hole hitter Joey Wiemer’s three-run shot. Nine-hole hitter Javier Sanoja also drove in three runs.
Detroit (84-64) was led offensively by Riley Greene, who hit his team-leading 34th homer and also doubled.
Alcantara, the National League’s 2022 Cy Young Award winner; allowed four hits, no walks and two runs (one earned). Alcantara (9-12) struck out eight.
Skrubal allowed four runs on four hits, struck out two and didn’t issue a walk.
This was just the second time in Marlins history that a pitching matchup featured two former Cy Young winners. Alcantara faced Max Scherzer in 2023.
Detroit fell behind 1-0 on Skubal’s fifth pitch of the game as Agustin Ramirez slugged a 404-foot blast with a 110.8-mph exit velocity. It was the rookie catcher’s 20th homer.
Miami hit Skubal hard again in the second as Heriberto Hernandez drilled a 100.1-mph homer and Eric Wagaman followed with a 107.1-mph double. Wagaman came around to score on Sanoja’s groundout, giving Miami a 3-0 lead.
Detroit got on the board in the fourth on Greene’s solo homer, which had 111-mph exit velocity on an extreme uppercut swing (39-degree launch angle).
Miami stretched its lead to 5-1 in the fourth on Sanoja’s two-run double. Wiemer blew the game open with his three-run shot in the sixth.
Detroit narrowed its deficit to 8-2 in the sixth on Ramirez’s MLB-leading 16th passed ball of the season.
The Marlins closed out the game with one scoreless inning each from relievers Cade Gibson and George Soriano.
