Martinez pitches a solid start in debut
Goes scoreless for 51/3 innings as A's split DH
There's been little evidence to suggest righthander Adrian Martinez, acquired in the spring trade that sent Sean Manaea to the Padres, would be capable of filling the void left by the lefty who anchored the A's rotation for parts of six seasons.
Martinez had posted a 7.45 ERA in five Triple-A starts prior to making his major league debut Tuesday, so expectations were relatively low for the pitcher added to Oakland's roster as the 27th man for a doubleheader in Detroit.
Martinez blew those expectations away.
In 5 1/3 shutout innings, the Mexico native pounded the strike zone and held the Tigers to just four hits in a 4-1 A's victory. The 25-yearold didn't overwhelm Detroit's lineup, but gave the A's exactly what they needed after being shut out 6-0 in the matinee matchup on Tuesday.
Martinez's performance coupled with sacrifice flies from Jed Lowrie and Luis Barrera and RBI singles from Kevin Smith and Cristian Pache gave Oakland its second win in as many days following a nine-game losing streak that ended Monday.
A solid outing from Martinez gave Oakland's struggling
offense a window of opportunity against a Tigers team that has had an equally disappointing start to the season.
Martinez's Game 2 performance also stole the spotlight away from Tigers starter Tarik Skubal, a Bay Area native who was the start of the day with seven dominant innings of shutout ball in Game 1.
A few folks in the East Bay remember Skubal as an even more unstoppable force. Of course, that was 20 years ago, when Skubal was booted out of his T-Ball league in Fremont because he was just too good.
His mother still gets a bit amused when telling the story of how 5-yearold Skubal went from having fun with his little teammates to suddenly being off the team.
“The Little League board told us, `We can't have him in T-ball. He hits the ball too hard. He's gonna hurt somebody,' “Laura Skubal said during a phone call Monday from Kingman, Ariz.
The Skubals, including his father, Russ, a middle school teacher and high school baseball coach, still cherish their memories from their time in the Bay Area, especially those days and nights spent with their five sons at A's and Giants
games.
“We're all huge baseball fanatics,” said Laura, whose personal favorite Bay Area baseball moment was when she was at the 1991 game when Rickey Henderson broke the all-time stolen base record. “We went to several A's games, went to Giants games – we were there when Pac Bell Park first opened. We have some really good baseball memories.”
That's why Tarik's start against the A's in the first game of the doubleheader held some extra significance for him. Facing one of the hometown teams he grew up rooting for is still special, his mom assured.
“It's a big deal (to him),” said Laura, noting that Tarik's first ever start at the Oakland Coliseum last August was a surreal occasion for her son, who still keeps in touch with some of his old East Bay friends.
On Tuesday in Detroit, Skubal gave up just three hits and struck out five to improve to 2-2 while lowering his ERA to 2.94. It was the third time in his six starts he hasn't allowed an earned run.
For Skubal, who was born in nearby Hayward, his homecoming game last year could have gone much better. He wound up having one of his worst outings of his rookie season in
Oakland. He surrendered six runs in five innings and took the loss against the A's that night.
Still, the 6-foot-3, 240-pound lefty has quickly developed into the potential anchor of a strong, young Detroit rotation, which should include former No. 1 overall pick Casey Mize and first-round picks Matt Manning and Alex Faedo, who gave up two runs in Game 2, for years to come.
Skubal was a ninth-round pick in 2018 out of Seattle University, where his mom is proud to note he earned a degree in financing. His expertise was put to test last year when his mom congratulated him for getting invited to spring training by handing him a piece of paper. “I said, `Congratulations, welcome to adulthood, Tarik. Here's your phone bill. You get to pay it now,' ” Laura said.
The way Tarik's career seems to be headed, taking care of bills won't be an issue. Now armed with a mid-90mph sinker, Skubal used it to become the first pitcher in Tigers history with at least 29 strikeouts and no more than three walks over his first five starts in a season.
His mother admits she's a tad superstitious, so she tries not to get too caught up in Tarik's baseball success – for fear of possibly jinxing something. She's also careful to point out that, as a mother of five boys, she was still beaming after Mother's Day when she got to see and speak to them all and realize “they're all productive members of society and I can't ask for anything better.”
Actually, Laura did wish for something better. She had one secret wish for Tarik, one that will never come true since Buster Posey retired.
“Detroit is a wonderful place and they've treated Tarik so well, but my dream was for Buster to catch for him,” Laura admitted. “It broke my heart when Buster retired. He's such a quality individual. Plus, I knew (Tarik) would be a better pitcher because of (Posey).”