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Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal dominated in his last road start on August 2. Facing the Philadelphia Phillies, the All-Star lefty fanned 10 batters without issuing a walk en route to his 11th win of the season. With the performance, Skubal joined Clayton Kershaw as the only pitchers to record 10+ strikeouts without allowing a walk in three consecutive road starts.
Kershaw set the record in 2016 and the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner tied him earlier this month. On Thursday Skubal had the opportunity to surpass the Dodgers' legend when he took the mound against the Twins in Minnesota, per Tigers PR on X.
Unfortunately, the two lefty aces will remain tied in this unique display of road dominance. In a disappointing outing by his standards, Skubal gave up two walks and only struck out three batters Thursday. It was his lowest punch-out total since his first start of the season in March, when he recorded just two Ks.
Tarik Skubal has been a road warrior for the Tigers
While the effort failed to make baseball history, Skubal still delivered a quality start for the Tigers. He allowed three runs on six hits in seven innings of work.
The Twins managed to get to the hurler early, plating three runs in the third inning. But after a rocky start, Skubal settled in. He kept the Tigers in the game by silencing the Twins’ bats over the next four frames. After the third inning Minnesota had just one base runner while Skubal remained in the game through the seventh.
Skubal has followed up his unanimous Cy Young win in 2024 with another stellar season. He entered Thursday’s contest leading all American League pitchers in bWAR (5.5), ERA (2.35), ERA+ (177) and K/9 (11.6). And he’s tops in the majors in FIP (2.13) and WHIP (0.860). The performance earned Skubal his second straight All-Star Game start.
The sixth-year veteran has been particularly strong on the road this season. Prior to facing the Twins, Skubal owned a 2.11 ERA and 0.766 WHIP in road starts – compared to (a still excellent) 2.55 ERA and 0.934 WHIP at home.
The Tigers' hurler tied another Kershaw record earlier this year. He became just the second pitcher in baseball history to record 160+ strikeouts with 20 or fewer walks and a sub-2.20 ERA after 20 starts. Kershaw accomplished the feat in 2014.
The Tigers hit a bit of a rough patch in mid July, losing 12 of 13 games. But Detroit has since recovered. The team remains six games ahead of the second-place Cleveland Guardians in the AL Central.
