‘Caps Take Series in Skubal’s Dominant Return
COMSTOCK PARK, MI – Defending two-time American League Cy Young Award-winner Tarik Skubal dazzled in his rehab appearance with the West Michigan Whitecaps as they blanked the Dayton Dragons 8-0 in front of 8,967 fans Sunday afternoon at LMCU Ballpark. Skubal saw his first live game action since undergoing arthroscopic
COMSTOCK PARK, MI – Defending two-time American League Cy Young Award-winner Tarik Skubal dazzled in his rehab appearance with the West Michigan Whitecaps as they blanked the Dayton Dragons 8-0 in front of 8,967 fans Sunday afternoon at LMCU Ballpark.
Skubal saw his first live game action since undergoing arthroscopic surgery on May 4, and he didn’t skip a beat, throwing 44 of 54 pitches for strikes while completing five shutout innings with six strikeouts in the victory. West Michigan secured its first series win since completing a six-game sweep of the Lansing Lugnuts with a 12-4 win on April 19.
The Whitecaps grabbed the lead in the first inning as outfielder Jackson Strong hit homered for the third consecutive game — a two-run blast that put the ‘Caps ahead 2-0. West Michigan added to its lead in the third as first baseman Garrett Pennington delivered a two-run single to extend the lead to 4-0. Meanwhile, Skubal completed five scoreless innings, allowing just two baserunners, as the ‘Caps sprinkled four runs across the next three innings, highlighted by a two-run double from Ricardo Hurtado and an RBI double from Woody Hadeen to increase the lead to 8-0. Whitecaps relievers Ryan Harvey, Luke Stofel and CJ Weins combined to blank the Dragons over the final four innings, adding two strikeouts to put the finishing touches on the shutout victory and secure the club’s first series win since April 19.
The Whitecaps improve to 20-37 while the Dragons fall to 31-26. Skubal (1-0) earned the win for West Michigan, while Dragons starter Reynardo Cruz (1-2) suffered his second loss after allowing seven runs (six earned) in 5.2 innings of work. The Whitecaps drew their largest crowd of the season for Skubal’s rehab appearance, as 8,967 fans turned out for the picture-perfect Sunday matinee. Meanwhile, Skubal, just over one month removed from elbow surgery, featured a fastball that reached as high as 99 mph in the win.
UP NEXT
The Whitecaps hit the road for a six-game series against the Lake County Captains, live from Classic Park, beginning Tuesday at 6:05pm. Broadcast coverage with Dan Hasty begins on the Whitecaps Baseball Network at 5:50pm on 106.1 FM ‘The Ticket’, and 1340 WJRW-AM in Grand Rapids, or listen to all the action on whitecapsbaseball.com.