CHICAGO — Tarik Skubal pitched six innings of three-hit ball and the Detroit Tigers opened a promising season on the right foot, 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 beyond first and wasted a great start by Garrett Crochet (0-1).
Puerto Rican Javier Báez singled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Cuban Andy Ibáñez in the third inning. The Tigers totaled six hits
Skubal (1-0) resumed play just as he finished last year. The 27-year-old left-hander struck out six with no walks in his first opening-game start. In his final five starts the year before, he went 4-0 with a 0.90 ERA.
For the Tigers, Cuban Ibáñez went 2-1 with an RBI. Puerto Rican Báez 1-for-4 with one scored.
For the White Sox, the Cubans Yoán Moncada 4-0, Luis Robert Jr. 4-1. Dominican Eloy Jiménez 3-1. Puerto Rican Martín Maldonado 3-0.
