Skubal pitches 3-hit ball over 6 innings as Tigers open with 1-0 win over White Sox

Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Garrett Crochet delivers during the first inning of the White Sox’s home opener baseball game against the Detroit Tigers Thursday, March 28, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

CHICAGO (AP) — Tarik Skubal pitched six innings of three-hit ball and the Detroit Tigers opened a promising season on a winning note, beating the Chicago White Sox 1-0 on Thursday.

Skubal and three relievers combined to retire the final 17 batters. The White Sox did not advance past first base and wasted a terrific start by Garrett Crochet.

Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Tarik Skubal delivers during the first inning of the Chicago White Sox’s home opener baseball game Thursday, March 28, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Javier Báez singled and scored on Andy Ibáñez’s sacrifice fly in the third. The Tigers finished with six hits.

Skubal (1-0) picked up right where he left off last year. The 27-year-old left-hander struck out six without a walk in his first opening-day start, after going 4-0 with a 0-90 ERA in his final five outings a year ago.

Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Tarik Skubal delivers during the first inning of the Chicago White Sox’s home opener baseball game Thursday, March 28, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Shelby Miller pitched a perfect seventh. Andrew Chafin worked 1 1/3 innings before Jason Foley earned the save by striking out Yoán Moncada and Luis Robert Jr.

Crochet (0-1) tossed six sparkling innings in his first professional start, allowing one run and five hits. The 24-year-old left-hander struck out eight and walked none.

Crochet, who has 72 career relief appearances for the White Sox, got the nod for the opener after former ace Dylan Cease was traded to San Diego two weeks ago.

Deivi García worked the seventh. Michael Kopech pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth when he struck out Matt Vierling. But the White Sox opened on a familiar note coming off a 101-loss season.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Tigers: RHP Sawyer Gipson-Long (strained left groin) was placed on the 15-day injured list, and RHP Miguel Díaz was designated for assignment.

Detroit Tigers’ Colt Keith is hugged by his father Troy, before Keith’s Major League debut at the Chicago White Sox’s home opener baseball game against the Tigers Thursday, March 28, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

White Sox: LHP Shane Drohan (left shoulder nerve decompression surgery) and RHP Jimmy Lambert (right rotator cuff strain) were placed on the 60-day injured list. Chicago also designated LHP Sammy Peralta for assignment and selected the contracts of RHPs Jordan Leasure, Dominic Leone and Bryan Shaw.

Detroit Tigers’ Javier Baez celebrates in the dugout after scoring on Andy Ibanez’s sacrifice fly off Chicago White Sox’s Garrett Crochet during the third inning of the White Sox’s home opener baseball game Thursday, March 28, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

UP NEXT

Tigers RHP Kenta Maeda and White Sox RHP Michael Soroka make their first starts for their new teams on Saturday. The Tigers signed the 35-year-old Maeda to a $24 million, two-year contract to help them win games and mentor the team’s younger pitchers. Soroka gets a fresh start following a trade from Atlanta and hopes to regain the form that made him an All-Star for the Braves in 2019. ___

Detroit Tigers’ Andy Ibanez hits an RBI sacrifice fly off Chicago White Sox’s Garrett Crochet during the third inning of the White Sox’s home opener baseball game Thursday, March 28, 2024, in Chicago. Javier Baez scored on the play. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

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Detroit Tigers’ Colt Keith watches his fly out in the second inning of his Major League debut during the Chicago White Sox’s home opener baseball game Thursday, March 28, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Garrett Crochet winds up during the first inning of the White Sox’s home opener baseball game against the Detroit Tigers Thursday, March 28, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Detroit Tigers’ Colt Keith watches his fly out in the second inning of his Major League debut during the Chicago White Sox’s home opener baseball game Thursday, March 28, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Two U.S. Army helicopters fly over Guaranteed Rate Field during the Chicago White Sox’s home opener baseball game against the Detroit Tigers Thursday, March 28, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)