Detroit Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said it best — that was vintage Tarik Skubal.
The Tigers’ ace lefty delivered one of the greatest outings of his career in Game 1 of their AL Wild Card series against the Cleveland Guardians on Tuesday to earn a 2-1 victory at Progressive Field.
Skubal notched a career-high 14 strikeouts in his 7 2/3 innings of work, allowing three hits, one run and three walks. That also matched the Tigers’ franchise record for most strikeouts in a postseason game, tying Joe Coleman in the 1972 ALCS.
Max Scherzer is the only other Tigers pitcher to record 13-plus strikeouts in a postseason game.
It was also the most strikeouts in any MLB playoff game since Gerrit Cole’s 15 against the Tampa Bay Rays in 2019.
The only players to allow three or fewer hits with 14-plus strikeouts in a postseason start this century were the San Francisco Giants’ Tim Lincecum (2010) and New York Yankees’ Roger Clemens (2000). Both pitchers would win the World Series that season.
As has been the case all season long, Skubal’s changeup was a elite, drawing 12 whiffs on 23 pitches. For the game, Skubal had a whiff rate of 46% — well above his already top-notch season rate of 32.5%.
The 14 strikeouts and 26 total whiffs for the game were both the most in a Wild Card game since the expansion of the field in 2012.
Seven of Skubal’s 14 strikeouts were via the changeup, which was the most by a pitcher in a postseason game since Stephen Strasburg had 8 in Game 3 of 2019 NLCS for the Washington Nationals, according to ESPN.
Skubal’s dominant outing drew praise from the baseball world on social media, including Tigers prospect Max Clark and a shoutout from Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker, a Grand Rapids native and longtime Michigan sports fan.
The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner — and favorite to win the honor back-to-back seasons — was incredible to open up Detroit’s postseason run.
The baseball world can only hope this isn’t the last time Skubal takes the mound in 2025.