Skubal needles – Tarik Skubal’s animated outburst at the White Sox dugout after striking out Colson Montgomery with the bases loaded sparked a heated exchange involving injured pitcher Mike Vasil, whose “magical” wand antics became the center of an awkward moment during a 4-3
At Comerica Park on Friday, the game felt like it had two speeds: brisk and sharp on the field, tense in the clubhouse doorway afterward.
The White Sox’s 4-3 loss to the Tigers included a late emotional jolt in the top of the fifth. With the bases loaded and the score tied at 2. Tigers ace Tarik Skubal struck out Colson Montgomery to end the inning. Then. as Skubal walked off. he shouted and gestured toward the Sox’ dugout. apparently reacting to injured pitcher Mike Vasil’s “high jinks” with a “magical” wand.
For Vasil, the timing made it worse. He is recovering from Tommy John surgery, and the moment that caught Skubal’s ire came in the middle of a routine he had—cheering his teammates on from the top step.
“It was good, clean fun,” Vasil said. “I was just up there on the top step, helping the team out, cheering them on. Next thing I know, I’m getting reamed out.”
Vasil said the exchange escalated after Skubal’s outburst.
“There were some pretty choice words, and then I shared back some choice words. It was good stuff,” he said.
Umpires gathered to discuss the matter, but nothing came of it.
White Sox manager Will Venable said he wondered whether the Tigers were accusing the Sox of stealing signs—specifically, whether the wand had anything to do with it.
“With the wand?” Venable said. “I have no idea. Everything that we do on our bench is inward; it’s aboveboard. We had two umpires coming over and talking to us and no one talking to their side. It was their guy on the mound that was yelling and causing a scene. We were just trying to explain that there was nothing going on and didn’t really know what the problem was.”.
Vasil added that Skubal hadn’t said anything directly to the Sox until that moment. As play tightened and the White Sox began stringing together hits, Vasil said frustration and paranoia can take over.
“We started to get on base, and people get paranoid,” he said.
The bigger competitive issue for the Sox came right after the bases-loaded stand. In the inning where Skubal struck Montgomery out, the Sox managed only one run and left the bases loaded—one of those swing-and-miss opportunities that lingers when the final score is only a run or two off.
Junior Perez offered some lift in the sixth. After recording his first major-league hit, he followed with his first big-league home run to give the Sox a 3-2 lead. But it wouldn’t hold.
In the bottom of the inning, Kerry Carpenter hit a two-out, two-run double that dropped in front of Tristan Peters, who was charging in center field, against Erick Fedde.
Fedde, who threw a cutter, said the moment felt like the kind he tries to anticipate before the pitch.
“Big spot with two guys on, I felt like I made the pitch I wanted,” Fedde said. “It was a good piece of hitting.”
Venable made a small but deliberate change to the lineup, batting Miguel Vargas leadoff—only the fifth time in Vargas’ career he’d been in that spot.
“Just wanted to mix it up and give Miguel the opportunity to get as many at-bats as possible against Skubal,” Venable said. “He’s our best hitter against left-handed pitching.”
Vargas finished 1-for-4 with two strikeouts.
The day also carried recovery updates from the White Sox medical front. Catcher Kyle Teel. dealing with a hamstring and knee issue. had four hits in five at-bats with two runs scored and two RBI in his rehab outing Friday at Triple-A Charlotte. He is scheduled to play another nine innings Saturday, then be evaluated for a potential return.
Left-hander Noah Schultz, who has a knee injury, is scheduled to throw 50 to 60 pitches—about three innings—in his rehab appearance Sunday.
A veteran in the dugout weighed in on why some hitters struggle with angles closer to the middle infield, and how different the reads can be at first.
“That’s where it gets lost with guys that play in the middle or even just on the left side of the infield,” Sox third-base and infield coach Justin Jirschele told the Sun-Times. “Go over to first base, and it’ll be easy. But it’s not.”
Skubal’s moment did not happen in a vacuum of a full weekend of motion across the league. Tigers right-hander Justin Verlander. a surefire Hall of Famer. seemed to wonder Friday whether he’ll pitch again after Detroit scratched him from his start Sunday against the White Sox because of a strained left hamstring.
And later, as the game tightened, Sox fans found relief when Benintendi hit a tiebreaking pinch-hit, first-pitch grand slam in the eighth to reward Burke and give the White Sox a 5-1 victory, avoiding a three-game sweep.
Tarik Skubal Mike Vasil White Sox Tigers Comerica Park Tommy John surgery magical wand Will Venable Colson Montgomery Junior Perez Kerry Carpenter Erick Fedde Kyle Teel Noah Schultz
The “wand” thing sounds made up tbh.
So Skubal got mad over a guy cheering with a wand while someone’s hurt?? Baseball drama is unreal. I feel bad for that pitcher recovering from Tommy John like c’mon man.
Wait did the Sox wand actually steal signs or whatever? I swear I heard on TikTok that “magic” stuff is how teams cheat. Also why would he even be waving anything when they’re dealing with injuries… seems like bad timing.
This headline makes it sound like someone was literally casting spells at the bench lol. But also, if he’s on the top step just cheering, how is that a problem? And then umpires gathered but nothing came of it… so it’s just vibes and yelling?? Comerica Park always got something going on though.