Skubal shines as Tigers win 9-1 to hand Brewers their 3rd straight loss

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Tarik Skubal struck out nine while allowing four hits and no walks in seven shutout innings as the Detroit Tigers trounced the Milwaukee Brewers 9-1 on Monday night.

The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner didn’t allow a baserunner until Rhys Hoskins singled to start the fifth. The Tigers already led 9-0 by that point.

Kerry Carpenter homered and went 2 for 4. Gleyber Torres drove in three runs and scored twice. Andy Ibáñez was 2 for 5 with one run and two RBIs. Javier Báez scored twice.

The Tigers handed Milwaukee its third straight loss by jumping all over Tyler Alexander, who pitched for Detroit from 2019-23. Alexander (1-1) gave up eight runs — four earned — and six walks in four innings while striking out two and walking three.

Alexander was hit by a batted ball against consecutive hitters in the second inning.

Torres hit a 103.6 mph shot off Alexander’s leg, though second baseman Brice Turang threw him out at first. Ibáñez then hit a bouncer that went off the back of Alexander before the left-hander recovered to throw him out.

Detroit scored two runs in the first, two in the second and four in the fourth off Alexander. Carpenter then greeted Elvin Rodríguez by leading off the fifth with a 403-foot drive over the center-field wall.

That was the only run Rodríguez allowed in five innings of relief.

After striking out Justyn-Henry Malloy to start the game, Alexander got ahead 1-2 in the count against Torres before walking him. That proved costly when Ibáñez doubled home Torres and later scored on Dillon Dingler's two-out double.

Skubal (2-2) allowed seven runs over 10 2/3 innings in his first two starts of the season, but has thrown 13 shutout innings in two starts since. He has given up four hits without walking anyone in each of his last two appearances.

RHP Jack Flaherty (1-0, 1.62 ERA) pitches for Detroit on Tuesday, and RHP Quinn Priester (0-0, 1.80) starts for Milwaukee.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Tyler Alexander throws to the Detroit Tigers during the first inning of a baseball game Monday, April 14, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

Detroit Tigers' Zach McKinstry (39) pops out to Milwaukee Brewers catcher William Contreras during the fourth inning of a baseball game Monday, April 14, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

Detroit Tigers' Justyn-Henry Malloy reacts to a high and tight pitch during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Monday, April 14, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

Detroit Tigers' Kerry Carpenter (30) receives congratulations after hitting a home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Monday, April 14, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

Detroit Tigers' Ryan Kreidler hits a base hit during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Monday, April 14, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

Detroit Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal throws to the Milwaukee Brewers during the first inning of a baseball game Monday, April 14, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

Cumberland, Md. (AP) — Three members of the Zizians, a cultlike group linked to six deaths across the U.S., were granted permission Friday to work together in preparation for their upcoming trial on trespassing, weapons and drug charges.

Jack LaSota, Michelle Zajko and Daniel Blank are among a group of young, highly intelligent computer scientists drawn together by radical beliefs about veganism, gender identity and artificial intelligence.

Authorities have described LaSota, a transgender woman known as Ziz, as the apparent leader of the “extremist group." Since 2022, Zizians have been tied to the death of one of their own during an attack on a California landlord, the landlord’s subsequent killing, the deaths of Zajko’s parents in Pennsylvania, and a highway shootout in Vermont that left another member and a U.S. Border Patrol agent dead.

LaSota, Zajko and Blank were arrested in February after a property owner said he found them living in box trucks on his land in Frostburg, Maryland. Zajko was charged in Vermont with lying on her application to buy the gun used to kill agent David Maland in January 2025, while LaSota faces separate federal charges of being an armed fugitive.

On her way into the courthouse Friday, LaSota accused prosecutors of pressuring the trio to commit perjury by accepting plea deals and said, “They're violating our speedy trial rights.” Friday's hearing was supposed to include discussions of the trio's motions to dismiss the charges and logistics of the trial that begins Feb. 9. Much of the agenda was postponed until Jan. 30 after Zajko indicated a desire to fire her attorney.

Earlier, Allegany County Circuit Court Judge Michael Twigg agreed to allow the trio to work together on their defense. Since their arrest, LaSota and Blank have been allowed to meet, but Zajko was kept apart in what she described as “absurdly difficult circumstances.”

When the prosecutor told the judge he had reason to believe the three had already been communicating amongst themselves, LaSota interjected, “In the car ride here!”

“We should be able to talk to each other without being recorded and without fear of our notes being intercepted," LaSota said.

“We're adults. We have work to do, and we want to do our work," Zajko said.

At one point, all three spoke up in support of each other.

“I repudiate any notion of protecting me from our codefendants,” LaSota said.

“I do, too,” said Zajko.

“As do I,” Blank said.

In the Vermont case, prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Zizians member Teresa Youngblut, who has pleaded not guilty to murder for her alleged involvement in the shootout. Though she initially faced lesser charges, President Donald Trump's administration had signaled early on that more serious charges were coming as part of its push for more federal executions.

At the time of the shooting, authorities had been watching Youngblut and her companion, Felix Bauckholt, for several days after a Vermont hotel employee reported seeing them carrying guns and wearing black tactical gear. She is accused of opening fire on border agents who pulled the car over on Interstate 91. An agent fired back, killing Bauckholt and wounding Youngblut.

Two other members of the Zizians group are awaiting trial in connection with the 2022 attack on a landlord in California that left another member dead. Zajko has been called a person of interest in the deaths of her parents later that year, and another member of the group is charged with killing the landlord three days before the Vermont shooting.

—

Ramer reported from Concord, New Hampshire.

In this image from video, Michelle Zajko, who is associated with a cultlike group known as Zizians that is linked to several deaths across the U.S., is escorted into court for a pretrial hearing on trespassing, gun and drug charges in Cumberland, Md., Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Scolforo)

In this image from video, Daniel Blank, who is associated with a cultlike group known as Zizians that is linked to several deaths across the U.S., is escorted into court for a pretrial hearing on trespassing, gun and drug charges in Cumberland, Md., Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Scolforo)

In this image from video, Jack LaSota, also known as Ziz, who is at the center of a cultlike group known as Zizians and linked to several deaths across the U.S., is escorted into court for a pretrial hearing on trespassing, gun and drug charges in Cumberland, Md., Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Scolforo)

In this image from video, Jack LaSota, also known as Ziz, who is at the center of a cultlike group known as Zizians and linked to several deaths across the U.S., is escorted into court for a pretrial hearing on trespassing, gun and drug charges in Cumberland, Md., Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Scolforo)