Tarik Skubal says he teared up as Tigers fans roared moments before his 1st complete game as a pro
DETROIT (AP) — Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal emerged from the dugout to pitch in a ninth inning for the first time in the major leagues, triggering a roar and standing ovation from the Comerica Park crowd as men, women and children chanted his name.
“Little teary-eyed out there, honestly, before the inning started,” Skubal said Sunday. “It was pretty cool. I just thought to myself, `12-year-old me wouldn’t believe that was an opportunity to have the fan base support you the way it does and be in that moment.’
“It was pretty special.”
Indeed.
Skubal gave up two hits and matched a career high with 13 strikeouts and no walks in his first professional complete game, a 5-0 win over Cleveland that avoided a four-game sweep. He ended the game by striking out Gabriel Arias on a 102.6 mph four-seam fastball, the fastest strikeout pitch by a starting pitcher since pitch-tracking started in 1988.
He is the only major leaguer to throw a shutout with 13 or more strikeouts and fewer than 100 pitches since pitch counts records started in 1988, according to Sportsradar.
Skubal won the AL Cy Young Award and was the league’s pitching Triple Crown winner last season, but the longest outing of his big league career had been eight innings last August against Boston.
The 28-year-old former Seattle University standout had his first complete game since a pair of seven-inning efforts in 2015 during his freshman season.
Tigers manager A.J. Hinch has kept Skubal on the mound for an average of 95 pitches over the previous three starts and the lefty’s efficient afternoon allowed him to reach a milestone.
“Sometimes, it’s your big boy’s day and you’ve got to leave him out there,” Hinch said.
Skubal didn’t give up a hit or a walk through five innings and finished with a nearly flawless performance. He had a baserunner for the first time after Will Wilson doubled on the second pitch of the sixth, ending a potential bid for a perfect game.
“After two (innings), you think about it,” Skubal acknowledged.
Skubal (5-2) gave up only one more hit and hit one batter in a masterful, 94-pitch outing that included just 22 balls. He’s the first player in franchise history to have a complete game without a walk, two or fewer hits and 13 strikeouts.
Skubal also became the first Tiger to have 10-plus strikeouts in four straight home games and his game-ending pitch was the team’s fastest since at least 2015.
“I don’t know what to say because you don’t see it very often,” Hinch said. “When he’s got full intensity and full throttle, the sky is the limit.”
Skubal pitched the eighth complete game in the major leagues this season and fifth individual shutout.
That didn’t give him any sort of retribution, though, after Cleveland’s Lane Thomas hit a grand slam off Skubal in a 7-3 win that eliminated Detroit in Game 5 of their AL Division Series on Saturday.
“There’s no story there,” Skubal said. “I got a ton of respect for a log of guys in that dugout, including their manager.”
Likewise, the Guardians admire Skubal a lot.
“He’s the best pitcher in baseball and he showed it today,” Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said.
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