Tigers' Tarik Skubal applauds all-out defensive effort vs. Marlins

Detroit — Odd thing.

About the only two people in the ballpark Sunday who weren’t picking up no-hitter vibes from Tarik Skubal’s performance in the finale against the Marlins were manager AJ Hinch and Skubal himself.

“My stuff wasn’t good today,” Skubal said.

Tigers starting pitcher Tarik Skubal allowed one run on two hits and two walks in 6.2 innings Sunday against the Miami Marlins.

And yet, he faced the minimum through four innings on just 50 pitches and got the first two outs in the sixth without allowing a hit in the Tigers' 8-2 victory.

“It’s that one more time through the order, that's really when I start feeling it,” Hinch said. “And we were approaching that getting to the sixth. I wasn’t quite there.”

Austin Slater’s bloop single in the sixth ended the discussion, but before that, even after that, the Tigers’ defenders were all in on hit prevention.

“The biggest thing for me, seeing it go into the fifth inning, I’ve got to make every play for him,” rookie shortstop Kevin McGonigle said. “Everyone else is thinking the same thing, just have his back.”

More: AJ Hinch keeping same order for Tigers rotation, for now

There was no greater example of that than what Spencer Torkelson did on the pitch before Slater’s single. Skubal jammed him with a sinker and Slater, a right-handed hitter, sliced a foul ball down the right-field line.

Torkelson turned his back to the plate and sped after the ball, tracking it almost into the right-field corner. His average sprint speed this year is 26 feet per second. He had to top that on this chase.

According to Statcast, the ball traveled 117 feet behind the bag. Torkelson made a full-out frontal dive at 113 feet, just missing it.

“It hit the glove,” he said.

Incredible effort and nobody was more appreciative than Skubal.

“I love the effort,” he said. “You look at Greenie’s play in the ninth. We’re up 8-1 and he almost robs a homer. I love watching that stuff.”

Riley Greene nearly robbed Otto Lopez of that home run off reliever Connor Seabold, earning himself a nasty back bruise for his effort. Right fielder Kerry Carpenter also sacrificed his body, trying to make a diving catch in right on what ended up a triple by Miami’s Jakob Marsee (Allen Park) in the seventh.

“Love it,” Skubal said. “That’s what we hang our hat, just the preparation and effort. The effort is what I care about and Tork was fully bought in on trying to make that play. Same with Carp. He’s busting his ass trying to make a play. I will never be upset about that.”

On deck: Kansas City Royals

▶ Series: Three games at Comerica Park, Detroit

▶ First pitch: Tuesday-Wednesday — 6:40 p.m.; Thursday — 1:10 p.m.

▶ TV/radio: Tuesday-Thursday — Detroit Sports Net/97.1 FM.

▶ Probables: Tuesday — LHP Cole Ragans (0-3, 5.91) vs. LHP Framber Valdez (1-1, 4.76); Wednesday — RHP Seth Lugo (1-1, 1.53) vs. RHP Jack Flaherty (0-1, 5.14); Thursday — LHP Kris Bubic (2-1, 2.50) vs. RHP Keider Montero (1-1, 1.74).

▶ Ragans, Royals: It’s been a rough start, in a couple of ways. He got tagged for three homers in four innings in his season debut against the Braves. Then after blanking the Twins over six innings in his second start, he took a 92-mph liner off his left thumb in the first inning against Cleveland last time out and left the game. He will be the first left-handed starter the Tigers have seen this season.

▶ Valdez, Tigers: He’s coming off one of the worst starts of his career, allowing eight runs and 10 hits in the chill at Target Field last week. He couldn’t get a feel for his curveball, which allowed the Twins to zone in on his sinker. Six of the nine sinkers they put in play had exit velocities of 95 mph or better. He has pitched well against the Royals over his career, posting a 3.29 ERA and 1.058 WHIP in nine games (seven starts), with a .605 OPS against.

Chris.McCosky@detroitnews.com

@cmccosky

This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Detroit Tigers' Tarik Skubal applauds defensive effort vs. Marlins