Red Sox’ offense flails against Tigers ace Tarik Skubal, fall 4-1

Boston Red Sox

Skubal, the American League’s back-to-back Cy Young Award winner, had a no-hitter in the fifth inning.

Saturday was a microcosm of the 2026 Red Sox through 20 games.

Boston’s offense couldn’t have happened much more. When the bats woke up later in the game and with runners on base, they failed to capitalize on their opportunities.

The starting pitching left a lot to be desired on the mound as well. The traffic in the first half led Boston to a deficit very early, and its offense was unable to respond.

The bullpen was studs through five innings of work, giving the Red Sox plenty of opportunities to come up with some runs and turn the game into a competitive one.

Ultimately, Boston (8-12) fell 4-1 to the Detroit Tigers with Tarik Skubal.

Skubal, the American League Cy Young Award winner, was absolutely dominant, as usual. The left-hander threw six solid innings, allowing four hits, two walks, and one earned run while striking out a season-high 10 batters. Skubal got the win and improved his ERA to 1.05 on the year.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora said after the game that it’s hard for any hitter not to feel shaky while facing a dominant pitcher like Skubal.

“I guess [Skubal] It gets in everyone’s heads. “You know, his stuff, he’s pretty good,” Cora said. “He had a good changeup today, the fastball. But we put him in an awkward position, and he did what he usually does.”

Skubal took the shutout in the fifth inning. By then, his Tigers were up 4-0.

It seemed like an insurmountable score for Boston. And it was.

The Red Sox gave Skubal a run for his money in the fifth and sixth frames. They hit the first two hits in a row to lead off the fifth, followed by a walk. Connor Wong hit a double play to play off Wilier Abreu for the club’s only run of the evening.

Despite loading the bases to start the fifth and notching another pair of leadoff hits in the sixth, Boston couldn’t find a way to handle any more runs.

Surprisingly for Skubal, Saturday marked his first career start at Fenway Park. In his previous two outings in Boston (June 22, 2022 and August 11, 2023), he had an 0-2 record, a 9.00 ERA, and five walks across 10 innings.

Brian Bellew took the Red Sox in exchange for Skubal, and did not have the same success against Detroit’s dangerous lineup. Saturday marked Bellew’s shortest start of the season: four innings, one earned run, two hits each, five strikeouts, and three walks.

Bellew needed 84 pitches (47 strikeouts) to get past 12 hitters; He threw 35 in the first half alone, setting up for a short outing early. In the first frame, Bellew allowed two hits and a walk each and ran one run.

The 26-year-old right-hander saw his ERA jump to 6.75 once his day was over.

Bellew said his biggest problem was his inability to get hitters out with two strikes.

“I think the truth is I don’t throw competitive pitches with two goals.” Bello told reporters postgame via translator. “That’s something I know and I need to work on that. But that’s why, with two strikeouts, it was a little difficult to get out or strike out.”

Cora echoed similar sentiments, noting that the entire pitching staff struggled to finish at-bats this year.

“[Bello] It wasn’t effective early on. “This is something we’ve been talking about as a staff,” he said. “It feels like we’re moving forward, but we’re not staying ahead. We let them get back in the count. You have to bury guys, especially 0-2, 1-2. That’s when you get your hits. And he wasn’t able to do that today.”

Speaking of Bellew specifically, Cora said that throwing more strikes is something the right-hander needs to work on if he wants to get deeper into games.

“We were talking about moving forward, staying ahead of the curve. That’s the most important thing,” Cora said. “His pitches are good. He gets people out into the zone. We just have to make sure we’re landing more hits.”

Bellew was off to a strong start against the St. Louis Cardinals as he went 6.2 innings and gave up two earned runs while earning the victory. As a team, Boston was on a high after a thrilling 1-0 overtime win over the Tigers on Friday night, hoping to experience the first of a three-game winning streak in 2026.

The Red Sox will look to reclaim the series lead on Sunday, with first pitch time adjusted to 4:35 PM ET due to expected inclement weather.