Cleveland — There aren’t many first-inning knockouts in baseball. But, the way lefty starter Tarik Skubal was throwing Friday, it felt like the Tigers scored one in the first game of the doubleheader at Progressive Field.
Akil Baddoo hit the second pitch of the game 412 feet into the second row of shrubbery in center field, his second career leadoff home run. Then with two outs, Spencer Torkelson doubled, Kerry Carpenter singled and Miguel Cabrera doubled.
The Tigers rode that early flurry to a 4-2 win over the Guardians.
BOX SCORE: Tigers 4, Guardians 2 (Game 1)
Credit to Skubal for that.