Seven months ago, Tarik Skubal had his mind on October. Now he won't dare think about it. After carrying the Tigers one game closer to a once-impossible playoff spot in the biggest start of his career, his next start was the only place Skubal would go.
"We haven't clinched or done anything like that. We gotta get there, so my mind's on Sunday," Skubal said. "We gotta keep winning."
That's basically all the Tigers have done for the last six weeks, owners of the best record in the majors since Aug. 11. They've won in mostly unorthodox ways. Tuesday was more traditional: the best pitcher in baseball mowed down the opposition and made a two-run double stand up in the Tigers' 2-1 victory over the Rays. Skubal's next start is slated for Sunday's season finale, with the Tigers' first playoff berth in a decade potentially on the line.
At the start of spring training, Skubal said he was looking forward to pitching on Opening Day in Chicago because "after 162, when you want to play the important ones, it's going to be in cold weather, too. In October, when games really do matter."
It was wet Tuesday in Detroit, which moved the game to the afternoon and delayed first pitch by an hour. The rain that turned to a mist even dampened Skubal's stuff in the early innings, as he struggled to grip the ball. It didn't stop him from getting outs. Does anything? He allowed a walk and a single through the first two innings, which was as close as Tampa came to touching him. Once the weather subsided, Skubal retired 15 of the final 16 batters he faced.
A.J. Hinch was waiting for him in the dugout after Skubal blew his 103rd and final pitch of the day past Jose Siri, clapping as Skubal pounded his glove and acknowledged the crowd. The manager is well aware that if "you greet him with too big a hug, he might knock you down those stairs." Hinch opted for his usual handshake after Skubal's seven shutout innings, before big No. 29 went down a line of backslaps and fist-bumps from his teammates. These are the finishing touches of a Cy Young season and most likely a pitching Triple Crown.
"He pitched his heart out, man," said Hinch. "He left it all out on the field. He's been doing this all season. It felt like we put the whole team on his shoulders. He doesn't have to do it all because we've got a good team that's playing really well together, but my seat is the best seat in the league with the best pitcher in the league on the mound."
Parker Meadows' seat is in center field. And a seat is exactly how it feels, because Meadows hardly has to move when Skubal has the ball. He laughed and called Skubal incredible and said that though the crowd was light after the unexpected mid-week matinee, "it was very electric. And he feeds off that, for sure." Rookie Ty Madden's seat is on the dugout rail.
"Dominant," said the 24-year-old pitcher, shaking his head. "Dominant. I don't know else to describe it. Just attacks the zone with his best stuff. And his mound presence, he's in total control up there."
If the Tigers are still playing next week, they'll have a real chance against anyone in a three-game series. That's the power of a pitcher like Skubal. His club has the competitive advantage every time he takes the the ball. He's taken it 31 times this season and leads the American League in ERA, wins and strikeouts, which would make him just the fifth pitcher to win the AL Triple Crown since Hal Newhouser in 1945. The others: Clemens, Pedro, Verlander and Johan Santana.
Skubal doesn't pay much notice to the numbers, though he does take pride in being mentioned with such greats. He cares more about stats like first-pitch strikes when assessing his own performance. He was happier on Tuesday with his changeup and his general execution, which was so poor his last two starts that Skubal gave up two whole runs. He smiled and said he noticed the kids in the crowd holding up signs that read, "I skipped school for Skubal," and encouraged them to skip again for Thursday's matinee.
(But "go to school tomorrow," he said.)
Skubal spent his first season in the majors pitching in vacant stadiums during COVID, and toiled for most of his next four in low-stakes games in front of sparse crowds in Detroit. The Tigers were headed for another losing season just last month. Now they're the hottest team in baseball, led by Skubal's smoking left arm. There might have been steam coming out of his nostrils on Tuesday. He's waited a long time to fire bullets "in moments like this."
"The fans have always embraced me ever since I got here," Skubal said. "So for me to go out and perform in front of them and give them something to cheer about this late in the season, it's why you play the game."
Skubal plays the game to win, which is clear whenever he rares back and roars after a big out. It's visceral and violent, like most things he does on the mound, and altogether vital. The crowd erupted after Skubal's final strikeout on Tuesday, each giving life to the other.
"The goal is to do this every year," Skubal said. "The goal is to peak in September and get to October hot and see what can happen. You never know with the playoffs."
Not that he's thinking about it.
