Game Recap: Cubs fall to Tigers despite Brown's gem

Lon Horwedel - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese - Senior Writer - 9 hours ago

DETROIT - In what had the feel of a potential World Series matchup, the Best in the NL, the Chicago Cubs (39-24), and the best in the AL, the Detroit Tigers (42-23), kicked off their three-game set at Comerica Park on Friday. These two teams have dominated their respective leagues for most of the season, and now that they are finally squaring off, this matchup could serve as a measuring stick for both teams.

Despite another strong performance from Ben Brown on the mound, he was on the losing end of a decision as Brown faced off against 2024 AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubel. Despite going pitch for pitch most of the night with Skubel, it was a pair of late-game homers that lifted the Tigers to a hard-fought 3-1 win.

Brown has been under the microscope a lot this season, but after watching him dominate the Cincinnati Reds last time out, the potential is there for him to be one of the more impactful arms on this staff. Brown continued his recent trend of success by giving the Cubs seven innings of two-run, seven-strikeout baseball as he had the Tigers guessing most of the night.

Typically, those types of performances result in wins, but with Skubel on the mound, you practically have to pitch perfectly if you want to win. For the most part, Brown managed to do that up until he served up a game-winning Spencer Torkelson homer in the sixth that put the Tigers in front for good. That was all the offense they would need as Skubel pitched into the eighth with six strikeouts as he lowered his ERA to 2.16 for the season.

With neither team able to generate any offense in the early going, it was the Tigers who threatened in the second, as a pair of one-out singles from Torkelson and Clint Keith put Detroit in business. Credit Brown for finding a way to battle out of trouble as he induced an inning double play to keep things knotted at zero. The Tigers followed that up by putting two more runners on in the third, but once again, Brown was able to wiggle out of trouble to keep things tied.

It took the Cubs' offense five innings to get anything going against Skubal, but with Pete Crow-Armstrong leading things off with a single, the Cubs had the man they wanted on the bases. A few pitches later, it was Dansby Swanson coming through with a massive double as the Cubs had a chance to put a pair of runners in scoring position with no outs.

That was until Crow-Armstrong was caught too far off third base. He wound up being tagged out on the play. That was a clear rally killer as Skubal retired the next two hitters he faced to keep things tied. Looking for the first run of the game in the bottom of the fifth, Brown continued to do his job on the mound as he retired the first two hitters before allowing a Javier Baez single to keep things alive.

It was that single that started a string of three consecutive singles as Gleyber Torres came through with a massive two-out single to put the Tigers in front 1-0. Down, but not out, it was the Cubs responding immediately in the sixth as Matt Shaw picked up his second hit of the evening with a leadoff double to set the Cubs offense up.

Two batters later, it was Kyle Tucker tying things back up as his RBI double scored Shaw from second to make this a 1-1 game. It was that double that proved to be the lone run of the night for the Cubs, as it was going to come down to their pitching to get the job done. As good as Brown was, Skubal was slightly better as the Tigers gave him the lead for good in the bottom of the sixth off a Torkelson homer.

Still trailing by that score in the eighth, the Cubs tried to mound one last rally off Skubal as a pair of two-out singles from Ian Happ, and Tucker had the tying run in scoring position, and Will Vest set to enter the game in relief. Vest did what he needed to do, getting Seiya Suzuki to fly out to end the inning as the Tigers continued to hold their 2-1 lead.

Detroit added to their lead in the bottom of the eighth as Jahmai Jones entered the game as a pinch hitter and promptly took Genesis Cabrera deep to make this a 3-1 lead. Detroit would go on to win by that score as Vast worked around a ninth-inning single to secure his 10th save and lowered his ERA to 1.72 for the season.

The Cubs racked up nine hits in the game, an impressive feat against Skubal. Tucker, Shaw, and Crow-Armstrong led the way with two hits in what was otherwise a quiet night offensively.