Pittsburgh Pirates at Detroit Tigers

· Doubleheader - Game 1

Pittsburgh Pirates

25-30, 13-15 Away

Final
0 - 8

Detroit Tigers

27-27, 14-14 Home

Matt Vierling's 3-run homer sends Tigers to 8-0 win over Pirates in first game of a doubleheader

Vierling had a game-winning three-run homer in an 14-11 victory over Toronto on Sunday. His homer on Wednesday highlighted a four-run fifth as the Tigers won their fourth straight.

“Just one of those things where you feel good,” Vierling said of his offensive surge. “Just try to ride it out for as long as you can. I've worked really, really hard to pull the ball more and hit the ball in the air a little bit more and try to utilize some exit velo.”

Vierling had three hits, while Riley Greene added two hits and scored two runs.

Tarik Skubal (7-1) bounced back from his only loss this season by holding the Pirates to three singles and a walk in seven innings. Skubal, who struck out eight, retired the last 10 batters he faced. Mason Englert pitched the last two innings to complete the Tigers' fourth shutout this season.

Skubal, who threw 66 of his 93 pitches for strikes, had all but one of his strikeouts during the first four innings.

“Early on, I had a lot of uncompetitive misses at two strikes, so I just (decided to) go right back at guys,” Skubal said. “My first strike percentage was really high and then they started swinging and putting the ball in play, once they kind of realized I was going to be in the zone all day.”

Skubal gave up four runs in five innings against Kansas City in his previous start. Detroit is 8-3 in games he's started.

“I feel like if we get him a lead, it elevates his confidence as well,” Vierling said. “If we get him some runs, I feel like we can put together a pretty good game.”

Pirates starter Jared Jones (3-5) allowed seven runs, five earned, and five hits in 4 1/3 innings. The Pirates committed three errors, leading to three unearned runs.

“I just didn't feel good to start the game, really,” said Jones, a rookie making his 11th start. “I didn't have a really good bullpen. This is the first really bad start I've had since I've been up here.”

Vierling had an RBI single during a three-run first. His fifth-inning homer came off a 1-1 slider from Jones.

ROSTER MOVES

Pirates: Left-hander Martin Perez (groin) was placed on the 15-day injured list and catcher Joey Bart (thumb) was placed on the 10-day IL. Third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes was activated from the 10-day IL and catcher Grant Koch had his contract selected from Triple-A Indianapolis.

Tigers: Outfielder Kerry Carpenter (spine) was placed on the 10-day IL and outfielder Akil Baddoo was recalled from Triple-A Toledo. Right-hander Keider Montero was called up from Toledo to start the nightcap.

Pirates: Left-hander Bailey Falter (3-2, 3.55 ERA) will start the opener of a three-game series at Toronto on Friday night.

Tigers: Right-hander Jack Flaherty (1-4, 3.84 ERA) will start the opener of a four-game series at Boston on Thursday night.

How can I watch Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Detroit Tigers?

TV Channel: Pirates at Tigers 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on MLB.tv.
Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Matchup Prediction

Tigers: 68.9%

Pirates: 31.1%

*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

	9th Inning	Koch struck out swinging.
	9th Inning	Koch hit for Olivares
	9th Inning	Tellez grounded out to second.
	9th Inning	Bae grounded out to second.
	8th Inning	Baddoo flied out to right.
	8th Inning	Pérez struck out swinging.

Statistics

PIT		DET
1	Games Played	1
1	Team Games Played	1
0	Hit By Pitch	0
12	Ground Balls	14
10	Strikeouts	6
0	Runs Batted In	8
0	Sacrifice Hit	0
3	Hits	10
0	Stolen Bases	0
1	Walks	2
0	Catcher Interference	0
0	Runs	8
0	Ground Into Double Play	0
0	Sacrifice Flies	1
30	At Bats	35
0	Home Runs	1
0	Grand Slam Home Runs	0
7	Runners Left On Base	17
0	Triples	1
0	Game Winning RBIs	1
0	Intentional Walks	0
0	Doubles	1
8	Fly Balls	16
0	Caught Stealing	1
121	Pitches	147
0	Games Started	0
1	Pinch At Bats	0
0	Pinch Hits	0
0.0	Player Rating	0.0
1	Is Qualified	1
0	Is Qualified In Steals	1
3	Total Bases	16
31	Plate Appearances	38
0.0	Projected Home Runs	162.0
0	Extra Base Hits	3
-0.9	Runs Created	4.9
.100	Batting Average	.286
.000	Pinch Hit Average	.000
.100	Slugging Percentage	.457
.033	Secondary Average	.200
.129	On Base Percentage	.316
.229	OBP Pct + SLG Pct	.773
1.5	Ground To Fly Ball Ratio	0.9
-0.9	Runs Created Per 27 Outs	4.9
3.0	Batter Rating	49.5
0.0	At Bats Per Home Run	35.0
0.00	Stolen Base Percentage	0.00
3.90	Pitches Per Plate Appearance	3.87
.000	Isolated Power	.171
0.10	Walk To Strikeout Ratio	0.33
.032	Walks Per Plate Appearance	.053
-.067	Secondary Average Minus Batting Average	-.086
0.0	Runs Produced	16.0
0.0	Runs Ratio	1.0
0.1	Patience Ratio	0.5
0.2	Balls In Play Average	0.3
56.0	MLB Rating	93.8
0.0	Offensive Wins Above Replacement	0.0
0.0	Wins Above Replacement	0.0