PHOENIX — Ok, maybe the entire town of Kingman, Arizona, wasn’t on hand Wednesday afternoon to see their hometown hero, but that lower section down right field, toward the concourse at Chase Field, certainly made their presence known loud and clear.
They watched their famous Kingman native mow down the Arizona Diamondbacks, but only this time, the two-time Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal didn’t get his Detroit Tigers teammates to cooperate.
Skubal, despite giving up just one run and six hits in seven dominant innings, lost 1-0 to the Diamondbacks. It was the first time he lost a 1-0 game since May 31 last season against the Kansas City Royals when he also gave up one run in seven innings.
Skubal gave up a home run to Corbin Carroll on his ninth pitch of the game, and allowed only one runner to reach second base after the third inning on shortstop Javier Baez’s error. He threw 60 of his 87 pitches for strikes, but took no solace in his latest dominant performance, with the Tigers having scored in just four of their last 49 innings.
“Obviously, it doesn’t really matter,’’ said Skubal, 1-1 with a 0.69 ERA, vying to join Hall of Famers Greg Maddux and Randy Johnson to win three consecutive Cy Young awards. “We lost. The goal of every game that I’m pitching, I want to win. It doesn’t really matter how it happens.
“Individually, fine, but it’s a team game. And we need to win. So it doesn’t really matter how I felt because it comes in a loss.’’
Skubal struck out just three batters, but he induced nine ground ball outs, including three double-play balls. His only real mistake was throwing a 97-mph fastball at the top of the strike zone on an 0-and-2 pitch to Carroll in the first inning, which he hit 406 feet over the center-field fence. He gave up only one 0-2 pitch for a home run all last season.
Then again, you ask Skubal, and he didn’t consider it a mistake at all.
The pitch was exactly right where he wanted. He gave all of the credit to Carroll, who became just the sixth left-handed hitter to ever homer off Skubal, and just the third since he began his Cy Young run in 2024.
“Great pitch, great pitch,’’ Skubal said. “I thought I executed it great. If you told me an 0-2 heater, that I’m going to execute it there 10 more times, I would do it 10 more times. It’s just one of those things. He’s a really good hitter, too, and he put a good swing on it.
“So, sometimes you got to tip your cap, and that was one of those times. That’s obviously a difference-maker in the game, but I don’t take that pitch back by any means.’’
Carroll, who’s hitting .333 with two homers, a double and triple despite breaking his hamate bone this spring, certainly appreciated the compliment. It’s not as if he was about to ask Skubal to autograph the baseball for him, but to join Freddie Freeman and Edouard Julien as the only left-handed batters to homer off Skubal since 2024 season, he realizes it’s pretty select company.
“Obviously, he’s one of the best in the game, if not the best,’’ Carroll said. “It’s really fun to go to battle against guys like that.’’
Carroll’s homer might have dampened the enthusiasm from the folks who drove three hours down from Kingman, with Skubal leaving 50 tickets, but it hardly ruined the performance. Skubal, making only his second start at Chase Field, showed the kids at home that you can be born with a club foot, go completely ignored by the three major universities in the state, and still work to become the greatest pitcher in baseball.
“No doubt, I like to enjoy the environment and to show that I care about the people that support me,’’ Skubal said. “So, it’s really cool whenever I get to back here and make a start. … I get to perform in front of my family, and understanding that I’m not around a ton, so I want to put on a good performance in front of them.’’
Skubal, who was able to sleep in his own bed in Scottsdale, Arizona, during the Tiger’s four-day stay, enjoyed seeing friends and family. He teased them that since the Tigers have only one more trip within driving distance of Kingman — a three-game series July 17-19 against the Los Angeles Angels — that “now they’re all going to have to get their ass on a plane to Detroit if they want to see me.’’
Skubal laughed. Who knows, considering the Los Angeles Dodgers can sign whoever they want with their unlimited resources, they could be seeing a lot of him in the future since he will be the most prized free agent on the market this winter. He’s expected to sign the richest contract for a pitcher in baseball history, exceeding $400 million.
Diamondbacks starter Zac Gallen, who outdueled Skubal by giving up just four hits in six shutout innings, knows he’ll be in the same free-agent marketplace, and heartily laughed when it was suggested he’d gladly take $1 million less than whatever Skubal receives.
“I’m all in,’’ he said.
Skubal isn’t going to sit around and worry about his future now. He knows he’ll be handsomely paid, setting up his family for generations. For now, he’s got a World Series championship to win.
And a small town of 35,000 in northern Arizona to impress, just like he did when he stopped in Kingman before heading off to Lakeland, Florida, for spring training.
“I go talk to the elementary schools and just go get in front of them,” Skubal says. “I think it’s important to give back to kids. A lot of those kids kind of idolize me, so it’s good to get in front of them and just talk to them. Let them know I’m a human and that I played basketball in the same gym that they did. I think that stuff’s pretty cool. …
“Being in my position is a privilege, and it’s something that I don’t take lightly. Getting in front of kids in my hometown, kids in Detroit, or anywhere, and just kind of [letting] them understand that whatever your dream is as a kid, whatever your passion is, just go do it and pursue it. Enjoy it. Life’s too short not to.
“I think that that’s the message I try to portray to kids.”
And, yes, as he reminded them one last time Wednesday, he was one of them not too long ago, driving down to catch Diamondbacks games during the season, or spring training games in March, dreaming that one day he’d be standing on the same mound.
“I got some special memories of this place,’’ he said. “I remember coming to games here. The tickets I would get would be three seats up from the roof. I remember being terrified up there, just how high up it was.’’
Now, the only ones being terrified are the opposing lineups he faces, with one team being the fortunate ones to sign him.
“Someone,’’ Carroll said, “is going to be paying that guy a lot of money after this year.’’
The Diamondbacks can only hope it’s not to their hated rivals to the West.
They saw enough of him Wednesday to last a season.
Follow Bob Nightengale on X @Bnightengale.