CHICAGO — Tarik Skubal more than validated his manager’s decision to give him the ball in the season opener.

Skubal bullied hitters for six scoreless innings, handing the baton to the bullpen to complete the task, as the Tigers beat the Chicago White Sox, 1-0, on a sunny but crisp (50-degree) day at Guaranteed Rate Field.

It was the first 1-0 opening day win in Tigers history.

Skubal allowed just three singles and not a single runner past first base. He struck out six.

Facing seven right-handed hitters in the starting lineup, Skubal attacked with high-velocity four-seam and two-seam fastballs, using his change-up as his primary secondary pitch. He got a total of 20 swings and misses on 49 swings, 11 of those with his four-seamer, which averaged 96.7 mph and hit 99.

The White Sox hitters had a chase rate of 39.5%.

The Tigers’ hitters didn’t have much more success against White Sox lefty starter Garrett Crochet, who was making not only his first opening day start, but his first big league start. The former reliever struck out eight in his six innings.

It was Javier Báez, though, who stirred things up early for the Tigers and created the only run off Crochet.

He’d been getting booed since he stepped onto the field, which is the norm here on the South side ever since Báez helped the Cubs win the World Series in 2016. He poured some gas on those flames at the end of the second inning. After he caught a shallow pop fly to end the inning, he fired the baseball, head-level, into the crowd down the third base line.

He knew there was netting in front protecting them. Still, it raised the fans’ ire to another level. Which Baez seems to feed on.

He singled to lead off the third inning, stole second and eventually scored on a sacrifice fly by Andy Ibanez.

That was the only scratch the Tigers made.

It was up to the bullpen to make it hold up.

Shelby Miller, making his Tigers debut, dispatched all three batters he faced in the seventh. Lefty Andrew Chafin set down the bottom of the White Sox order in the eighth and got lefty Andrew Benintendi out to start the ninth.

Manager AJ Hinch then went to right-hander Jason Foley to close it out against switch-hitter Yoan Moncada and right-handed hitting Luis Robert, Jr.

He struck out Moncada with a 100-mph sinker and then, hitting 101 on the radar gun, blew away Robert.

Tigers rookie Rookie Colt Keith, making his big league debut, rolled an infield single in the fourth inning.

©2024 www.detroitnews.com. Visit at detroitnews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.