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The Detroit Tigers are using all of the momentum from their deep playoff run last season and are absolutely rolling through the American League so far in 2025. On Sunday, star pitcher Tarik Skubal gave them one of their most memorable wins of the season.
Skubal had one of the best outings by any pitcher all season: 13 strikeouts and just two hits allowed in a complete-game shutout, one that is dubbed as a “Maddux” since he threw only 94 pitches. While the ace was efficient with his work on Sunday afternoon, a 5-0 win over the Cleveland Guardians, it was still somewhat surprising to see Skubal throw the full nine.
In recent years, complete games have become more and more rare as teams try to save their starters' arms on the bump. After the game, Tigers manager AJ Hinch explained why Skubal was given the green light to finish the game, via Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic.
“We are careful across the industry in how we handle these guys,” Hinch said. “The pitch counts have diminished and the inning totals have diminished. Sometimes it's your big boy's day, and you got to leave him out there.”
Of course, it's not like this start will put a ton of wear on Skubal's arm. 94 pitches is about par for the course for a starting pitcher these days in the major leagues, but the outlier is that the right-hander was able to get through all nine innings at that efficient pace.
While this is probably Skubal's best start of the season, it is far from the only gem that he has put up. The Tigers ace is the frontrunner for the Cy Young in the American League and is arguably the best pitcher in baseball at the moment.
Every time that Skubal takes the mound, the Tigers immediately have the advantage right from the start. He is beginning to build an aura of inevitability around him, and starts like this one on Sunday are exactly why.
