It feels like Tarik Skubal should win the AL Cy Young Award. He already captured the American League Triple Crown with the most strikeouts, most pitcher wins, and the lowest ERA in the league. Quite the list of accomplishments, you would think he’s done. But with the Tigers making a surprise playoff run, Skubal’s out for more.
Speaking of Skubal, he got the start Monday in Cleveland against former Tiger Matthew Boyd and the Guardians.
Six days after starting the first playoff game for the Detroit Tigers in ten years against Houston, Skubal was given the same task in Cleveland. And he must not know nerves at all. In just his second career postseason appearance, Skubal dazzled, throwing 7.0 shutout innings while adding in eight strikeouts and not walking a single Cleveland Guardians batter.
Conversely, Boyd and the rest of the Guardians pitchers matched Skubal and Will Vest, who pitched a clean eighth inning.
The ninth inning was the fun inning after neither team scored in the first eight. Emmanuel Clase was who the Guardians sent out, and arguably the best closer in baseball closed something.
After Clase got the first two outs fairly quickly, Jake Rogers was able to squeeze a ground ball just past the shortstop, and Trey Sweeney followed that with a single into right field to put runners on first and third, still with two outs. Power-hitting extraordinaire Kerry Carpenter was the next Tiger to the plate Clase left three consecutive sliders over the plate, and after fouling off the first two, Carpenter didn’t miss the third one, smacking a three-run home run deep to right to break the scoreless tie and give the Tigers a lasting 3-0 lead.
Beau Brieske finished the job for the Tigers with a scoreless bottom of the ninth, and just like that the Tigers sent the series back to Detroit tied at a game apiece.
