Skubal strikes out 9 in 7 innings and Torkelson homers twice in Tigers' 7-0 win over Angels

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Tarik Skubal pitched seven dominant innings, Spencer Torkelson homered twice and drove in four runs, and the Detroit Tigers cruised to a 7-0 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday night.

Skubal, winner of the past two AL Cy Young Awards, gave up five hits and struck out nine without issuing a walk. He induced 19 swinging strikes for the third straight start. Of his 87 pitches, 60 were strikes.

The Angels advanced only one runner to second base against the left-hander when Logan O’Hoppe and Mike Trout singled with one out in the sixth, but Skubal (6-5) got Vaughn Grissom to ground into an inning-ending double play.

The Tigers (46-52) have won 11 of 14 games and are 24-14 since June 1 to move within 5 1/2 games of the first-place Chicago White Sox in the AL Central and 3 1/2 games of Boston for the third AL wild card. Detroit was 22-38 and 11 1/2 games back in the division on May 31.

It took only five batters for the Tigers to build a 4-0 lead. Kevin McGonigle opened the game with a double, Dillon Dingler was hit by a pitch, Colt Keith hit an RBI single and Torkelson crushed a three-run homer to left-center with one out.

Detroit tacked on two runs in the second after loading the bases with no outs on singles by James Outman and McGonigle and another Dingler hit by pitch, his third in two games. Keith and Riley Greene followed with sacrifice flies for a 6-0 lead.

Torkelson led off the fifth with 18th homer, a 420-foot shot to center off left-hander Brent Suter for a 7-0 lead. That gave the Tigers first baseman his first multihomer game since Sept. 7, 2023, at Yankee Stadium.

Grayson Rodriguez (3-3) lasted only four innings, giving up six runs and seven hits in a shaky start that sent the last-place Angels to their fourth straight loss and 12th in 14 games.

Tigers RHP Casey Mize (4-6, 2.79 ERA) opposes RHP Ryan Johnson (1-4, 6.75) in Sunday’s series finale.

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

Detroit Tigers' Spencer Torkelson sticks his tongue out as seeds are thrown at him in the dugout after hitting a solo home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels, Saturday, July 18, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Detroit Tigers' Spencer Torkelson, center, is congratulated by Colt Keith, second from left, and Dillon Dingler, second from right, after hitting a three-run home run as Los Angeles Angels catcher Logan O'Hoppe, ring, watches during the first inning of a baseball game Saturday, July 18, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Detroit Tigers' Spencer Torkelson, center, scores after hitting a three-run home run as Los Angeles Angels catcher Logan O'Hoppe, left, and home plate umpire Ryan Wills watch during the first inning of a baseball game Saturday, July 18, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Tarik Skubal throws to the plate during the second inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels, Saturday, July 18, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Tarik Skubal throws to the plate during the second inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels, Saturday, July 18, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia attacked Kyiv overnight with ballistic missiles and other weapons, killing one and wounding 16 people, local authorities said, again highlighting Ukraine’s shortage of U.S.-made Patriot air defense systems.

U.S. President Donald Trump has said he is prepared to grant Ukraine licenses to produce Patriots, the most effective means of intercepting Russian ballistic missiles, potentially bolstering Kyiv’s defenses against similar Russian strikes. However, the details and timeline for implementing the decision remain unclear.

The latest attack on Kyiv began at around 1:30 a.m. and continued for several hours, with explosions echoing across the city.

Russia launched 41 missiles and 125 drones across Ukraine overnight, according to the Ukrainian air force. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said most of the missiles had targeted the capital.

The strikes on Kyiv sparked fires in five districts, damaging residential buildings, office and industrial sites, a dormitory and vehicles, according to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service.

Viktoria Shejko, 32, was taking shelter in the corridor of her apartment block with her seven children and husband when they heard the loud explosions.

“When the alarm started, we checked that there were ballistics, then went into the corridor. Then it started exploding one missile after another,” she said.

The strain of constant bombardment is “very difficult psychologically,” she said. “It used to be once a week or even more rarely, but now if not every day, then every other day.”

Rescuers pulled four people from a burning home in the Sviatoshynskyi district, while in the Shevchenkivskyi district, they rushed to save residents from a three-story building on fire. One person was found dead. Firefighters also responded to blazes in the Solomyanskyi, Desnianskyi and Dnipro districts.

Russia's Defense Ministry claimed the attack on Kyiv targeted sites linked to the Ukrainian military — including plants producing Flamingo drones and parts for Neptune guided missiles, as well as a postal terminal used for storing dual-use goods and assembling drones, robotic systems and electronic warfare equipment.

Separately, a strike on two oil tankers at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) ‌terminal off Russia’s Black Sea halted oil loadings at the site, the CPC said Sunday.

The attack on the ASIA and NISSOS tankers sparked a fire aboard the ASIA, which was extinguished. The company did not say who was responsible for the attack. It added there were no casualties or oil spills, and the tankers remained afloat.

Both Russia and Ukraine have sharply ramped up strikes on ships in the Black and Azov seas over the past week.

Kyiv has for months been targeting Russia's oil industry, which it says both directly fuels Moscow's war effort and funds it through export revenues, triggering acute fuel shortages in a country that is one of the world's top oil producers.

The CPC is a 940-mile (1,510-kilometer) oil pipeline ​connecting Kazakhstan’s Caspian Sea oil ​deposits ⁠with Russia’s Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, where the oil is loaded and shipped by tanker to world markets. The pipeline accounts for about 80% of oil-rich Kazakhstan's crude exports, with the Russian government and Russian state oil firms holding a combined 31% stake in the enterprise.

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

An owner looks at her damaged car following a Russia missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, July 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Activists kneel as they take a moment of silence to honor the fallen soldiers in Russia-Ukraine war during a rally to denounce President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's decision to dismiss Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov after six months in the post, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, July 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

A woman carries a cage with a parrot as she leaves her damaged house following a Russia missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, July 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Smoke rises over the city after a Russian attack on Kyiv, Ukraine, Ukraine, Sunday, July 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Debris surrounds a missile crater in the foreground of a building following Russia's missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, July 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Local residents wander among debris following a Russia missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, July 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)