WEST SACRAMENTO, CA — The Athletics lit up Detroit Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal in the seventh inning. Shea Langeliers was hitless in his first three trips to the plate, but he stepped up in the biggest moment of the game, blasting a 450-foot grand slam off Skubal’s middle-middle sinker with two outs in the seventh inning. The Tigers lost, 8-3.
The grand slam from Langeliers flipped the scoreboard, putting the Athletics ahead, 6-3, in the first of three games in the series Monday, Aug. 25, at Sutter Health Park.
The Tigers (78-55) have lost back-to-back games.
Skubal allowed six runs (one earned run) on seven hits and zero walks with 12 strikeouts, throwing 99 pitches. The Tigers made two errors on defense, which is why there were five unearned runs – one in the sixth, four in the seventh. Both errors were charged to shortstop Zach McKinstry.
The only earned run occurred when Colby Thomas hit a leadoff home run off Skubal, kickstarting the seventh-inning nightmare. The Thomas homer cut the Tigers’ lead to 3-2.
From there, everything unraveled for Skubal and the Tigers. The Athletics put two runners in scoring position on back-to-back hits from Darell Hernaiz and Tyler Soderstrom, then the second fielding error by McKinstry loaded the bases. Skubal struck out the next two batters. He should’ve been out of the seventh inning, but the previous fielding error allowed Langeliers to step to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs. Langeliers hit a grand slam.
The Athletics extended their 6-3 lead to an 8-3 lead in the eighth inning, when pinch-hitter Nick Kurtz blasted a two-run home run off left-handed reliever Drew Sommers.
Early on, Skubal dominated the Athletics. It was a strong performance from the reigning American League Cy Young winner — until the end. For Skubal’s first nine outs, he recorded seven strikeouts: Shea Langeliers (slider), Brent Rooker (changeup), Colby Thomas (fastball), Darell Hernaiz (changeup), Brett Harris (sinker), Zack Gelof (changeup) and Langeliers (fastball). Of those seven, the first six were swinging strikeouts.
Skubal struck out his 10th batter in the sixth inning, with Rooker watching a 100.3 mph fastball located down-and-in for a called-third strikeout. He has recorded 17 double-digit strikeout performances in his six-year MLB career, including 10 in 2025, passing Hal Newhouser for second most in franchise history. The Tigers record is owned by Mickey Lolich in 1971, with 11 double-digit strikeout games.
In Monday’s start, Skubal generated 21 whiffs on 59 swings for an above-average 35.6% whiff rate: 11 changeups, five fastballs, four sinkers and one slider.
For the Athletics, right-hander J.T. Ginn matched Skubal until the sixth inning. That’s when the Tigers struck. Gleyber Torres sparked the Tigers with a solo home run. He blasted Ginn’s first-pitch sinker 417 feet to left-center field with a 107.6 mph exit velocity. It was his 14th homer in 117 games and his first homer since Aug. 2.
Wenceel Pérez, batting from the right side, slapped a middle-away sinker into right field for a two-run double, driving in both Carpenter and Greene for a 3-0 lead in the sixth inning.
All three runs were charged to Ginn’s tab. The 26-year-old allowed three runs on seven hits and one walk with eight strikeouts across 5⅓ innings, throwing 84 pitches. He owns a 4.96 ERA in 18 games (11 starts).
