Detroit Tigers All-Star ace Tarik Skubal continued to dominate on the mound with yet another sensational, Cy Young-caliber performance on Friday night. Despite the Tigers losing 4-3 to the Los Angeles Dodgers after a late Dodger rally, Skubal threw six innings of two-run ball while striking out eight. When Skubal exited, he was in line for the win with the Tigers up 3-2, but his bullpen let him down.
After Friday's loss to the Dodgers, Skubal spoke with Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press about what the fan reaction to his incredible season has been like.
“You can feel it as a player,” Skubal said. “You could feel the buzz in the park when I walked out today. You want to win in front of those crowds, when there's however many thousand people, but we didn't, so we'll do it tomorrow.”
It certainly was a big day in Detroit at Comerica Park. Not only was Skubal on the mound, but he was facing the star-studded Dodgers and got the chance to face stars like Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman.
The 27-year-old Skubal, who threw more than 100 pitches on Friday for the first time this season, held Ohtani hitless during their three matchups against each other. Skubal didn't have as much luck against Freeman, who hit a solo home run in the fourth inning, one of just two blemishes in an otherwise excellent start from the Tigers ace.
Dodgers outfielder Andy Pages drove in the other run against Skubal, scoring Teoscar Hernandez on a single in the fourth inning as well.
An eighth-inning Teoscar Hernandez RBI double and a ninth-inning Ohtani RBI ground-rule double ended up giving the Dodgers the come-from-behind win.
Tarik Skubal's fantastic 2024 season
Skubal is one of the American League Cy Young favorites and is in line to potentially start the All-Star Game on Tuesday.
So far this season, Skubal has a 10-3 record, 140 strikeouts, 2.41 ERA and a league-leading 0.879 WHIP through 19 starts and 116.0 innings.
With a 45-50 record and sitting 7 games back of the third AL Wild Card spot and 13 games back of the Cleveland Guardians in the AL Central, it appears that the Tigers have fallen out of the postseason race and plan on selling at the upcoming trade deadline.
Despite that, the jump Skubal has taken this season has to make Tigers fans feel great about their chances going forward. Being able to build around a young, true ace pitcher on a very cheap contract with two more years of team control is one of the best positions for a team to be in.
Armed with a fastball that can reach 100 mph and some of the best off-speed stuff in baseball, Skubal is a rising star in Major League Baseball and the future of the Tigers, a team desperate to make their way back to the postseason. It's no wonder why fans in Detroit are packing Comerica Park whenever Skubal is on the mound.
Follow Us
Subscribe