Boston Red Sox
Skubal, the American League’s back-to-back Cy Young Award winner, took a no-hitter into the fifth inning.
Tarik Skubal wasn’t perfect Saturday, but he was dominant enough to hold the Red Sox to one run. Barry Chin/Globe Staff
Saturday was a microcosm of the 2026 Red Sox through 20 games.
Boston’s offense couldn’t get much going. When the bats woke up later in the game and with runners on base, they failed to capitalize on opportunities.
Its starting pitching left much to be desired on the mound, as well. Traffic in the first inning put Boston at a deficit much too early, and its offense wasn’t able to respond.
The bullpen was nails through five innings of work, giving the Red Sox plenty of chances to tack on some runs and turn the game into a competitive one.
Ultimately, Boston (8-12) fell 4-1 to the Detroit Tigers with ace Tarik Skubal on the bump.
Skubal, the American League’s back-to-back Cy Young Award winner, was completely dominant, as per usual. The left-hander tossed six strong innings, allowing four hits, two walks, and one earned run while striking out a season-high 10 batters. Skubal earned the win and improved his ERA to 1.05 on the year.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora said after the game that it’s difficult for any hitter not to feel rattled while facing a commanding pitcher like Skubal.
“I think [Skubal] gets in everybody’s heads. You know, his stuff, he’s that good,” Cora said. “He had a good changeup today, the fastball. But we had him on the ropes, and he did what he usually does.”
Skubal took a no-hitter into the fifth inning; by then, his Tigers were up 4-0.
It felt like an insurmountable score for Boston to match. And it was.
The Red Sox gave Skubal a run for his money in the fifth and sixth frames. They notched their first two hits back-to-back to lead off the fifth, followed by a walk. Connor Wong grounded into a double play to plate Wilyer Abreu for the club’s lone run of the evening.
Despite loading the bases to begin the fifth and notching another pair of leadoff knocks in the sixth, Boston couldn’t find a way to tack on more runs.
Surprisingly for Skubal, Saturday marked his first career quality start at Fenway Park. In his previous two outings in Boston (June 22, 2022, and Aug. 11, 2023), he owned a 0-2 record, a 9.00 ERA, and five walks across 10 innings.
Brayan Bello took the mound for the Red Sox opposite Skubal, and didn’t experience the same success against a dangerous Detroit lineup. Saturday saw Bello’s shortest start of the season: four innings, earned runs, and strikeouts apiece, five hits, and three walks.
Bello needed 84 pitches (47 strikes) to get through 12 batters; he threw 35 in the first inning alone, setting up for a short outing early on. In that first frame, Bello allowed two hits and walks apiece and one run.
The 26-year-old righty saw his ERA jump to 6.75 once his day was done.
Bello said his biggest issue was not being able to get batters out in two-strike counts.
“I think the fact is that I’m not throwing competitive pitches with two strikes,” Bello told reporters postgame via a translator. “That’s something that I know and I need to work on that. But that’s why with two strikes, it’s been a little bit hard to get outs or strikeouts.”
Cora echoed a similar sentiment, noting that the entire pitching staff has struggled to finish at-bats this year.
“[Bello] wasn’t efficient early on. That’s something we’ve been talking about as a pitching staff,” he said. “It feels like we get ahead, but we don’t stay ahead. We kind of let them back in the count. You have to bury guys, especially 0-2, 1-2. That’s when you get your strikeouts. He wasn’t able to do that today.”
Specifically talking about Bello, Cora said throwing more strikes is something the right-hander needs to work on if he wants to pitch deeper into games.
“We’ve been talking about getting ahead, staying ahead. That’s the most important thing,” Cora said. “His pitches are good. He gets people out in the zone. We just have to make sure we’re throwing more strikes.”
Bello was coming off a strong start against the St. Louis Cardinals in which he went 6.2 innings and gave up two earned runs while pocketing the victory. As a team, Boston was riding high coming off a thrilling 1-0 extra-inning win against the Tigers Friday night, with hopes of experiencing its first three-game winning streak of 2026.
The Red Sox will look to retake the series lead Sunday, with an amended first pitch time of 4:35 p.m. Eastern due to expected inclement weather.
Kaley Brown
Kaley Brown is a sports producer for Boston.com, where she covers the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox.
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