The Detroit Tigers have been one of the best teams in baseball this season, and Tarik Skubal is a big reason why. Every five games or so, Detroit already has a massive advantage over its opponent right from the opening pitch.
On Sunday, everyone got to see why. Skubal had an incredible day against the Cleveland Guardians, carrying the team with a complete game shutout in a 5-0 Tigers win.
Skubal had a perfect game going through five innings, but his final stat line is arguably even more impressive than that. The ace finished with 13 strikeouts in nine innings and allowed just two hits without anyone crossing the plate. He also threw only 94 pitches, making this a “Maddux” as a complete game shutout with under 100 pitches thrown.
This was a truly historic performance from Skubal, the likes of which we have never seen before according to MLB writer Brent Maguire.
Article Continues Below“Since pitch counts were first tracked in 1988, Tarik Skubal is the first pitcher to throw a Maddux (complete game shutout in fewer than 100 pitches) while striking out at least 13 hitters,” Maguire wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Skubal didn't seem to be running out of steam at all either. He was throwing heat all day that the Guardians' hitters couldn't touch, but he finished the day with his best yet. The right-hander struck out Gabriel Arias with a 102.6 MPH fastball to close the game out, which set another record according to Brian Murphy of MLB.com.
“Before today, the fastest pitch thrown in the ninth inning by a starting pitcher since 2008 was 101.3 mph,” Murphy wrote on X. “Skubal ended today's game with 102.6 mph! Absolutely smashed it.”
Skubal was unhittable all afternoon, just like he is on most days for this Tigers squad. Entering the day, it was 5-2 in 11 starts with just a 2.49 ERA. He was striking out an incredible 12.1 batters per nine innings, and all of those numbers will only improve after this masterpiece on Sunday afternoon.