It is crunch time for the Detroit Tigers. They are looking to defeat the Seattle Mariners in Game 5 of the ALDS. As they seek to face the Toronto Blue Jays, one of their aces made a name for himself.
On Friday, Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal became a part of baseball lore, per MLB.com. Ultimately, he set a new postseason record of seven consecutive strikeouts. During the regular season, Skubal went 13-6 with a 2.21 ERA and 241 strikeouts. In the Wild Card series against the Guardians, Skubal put on a superb performance by striking out 14 in 7.2 innings pitched in a 2-1 victory.
The Tigers finished the season with an 87-75 record. Meanwhile, Skubal is pitching in his sixth season with the Tigers, having been drafted in 2018 and making his debut in 2020. Altogether, he has accumulated an overall record of 54-37 and a career ERA of 3.08 at this point.
Also, the Tigers are looking to contend for their first World Series title since 1984. That was the year Kirk Gibson, Sparky Anderson, and company defeated the San Diego Padres in five games.
The last time the Tigers appeared in a World Series was 2006, when they lost to the St. Louis Cardinals.
Other MLB pitchers who threw consecutive strikeouts
Skubal will forever be known as the pitcher who set the precedent for others to follow in the playoffs. Before him, eight other pitchers achieved six consecutive strikeouts in a postseason contest.
The last of whom was Blue Jays rookie Trey Yesavage in Game 2 of the ALDS against the Yankees. Additionally, Skubal became the first pitcher to have 10+ strikeouts and no walks through the first four innings of a playoff game.
Currently, the record for the most strikeouts in a one-and-done playoff game is Yankees pitcher Cam Schlittler with 12 in the AL Wild Card series against the Boston Red Sox.
