Tarik Skubal fulfilled his role as the Detroit Tigers‘ ace on Sunday, salvaging a win in a four-game series with the Cleveland Guardians and ending a three-game losing streak.
The reigning American League Cy Young Award winner threw a shutout against the Tigers’ AL Central rival, allowing only two hits over nine innings with 13 strikeouts and no walks in a 5-0 win over the Guardians. He now leads the AL in strikeouts with 92.
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Skubal (5-2, 2.49 ERA) needed 94 pitches to mow through Cleveland’s lineup, throwing 74 of them for strikes in the first complete game of his career. He finished his day in just two hours and 10 minutes.
The left-hander generated 26 swings and misses on Sunday, saving the best for last. Skubal hit 102.6 mph on his final pitch to Gabriel Arias, getting him to swing and miss to finish the game. That’s the fastest pitch thrown by a starting pitcher since pitches began being tracked in 2008.
Baseball diehards like to call a shutout with fewer than 100 pitches a “Maddux,” in honor of Hall of Famer Greg Maddux, who had 13 such performances during his career. Skubal’s 13 strikeouts are the most ever thrown in a “Maddux,” surpassing the 12 thrown by Carlos Carrasco in 2014, Cliff Lee (2011) and Sandy Koufax (1964).
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Skubal faced the Guardians on Sunday for the first time since allowing five runs in six innings during Game 5 of last year’s ALDS, in which the Tigers were eliminated from the postseason.
With Skubal dominating the lineup, the Tigers didn’t need much offense. But they scored enough runs to keep it comfortable for their No. 1 starter. Zach McKinstry opened the scoring with a two-run homer in the fourth inning, jumping on a sweeper from Logan Allen that hung right in the middle of the strike zone.
Detroit added two more runs in the frame, getting an RBI double from Gleyber Torres and run-scoring single by Andy Ibáñez. Ibáñez came around to score when Allen fielded a chopper from Riley Greene and threw wide to first base, giving the Tigers a 5-0 lead.
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Allen lasted 3 2/3 innings, allowing five runs (four earned) on six hits and four walks. And he threw more pitches than Skubal with 97.
With the win, Detroit (34-20) builds its first-place lead in the AL Central to 3.5 games over the second-place Minnesota Twins (29-22), pending Sunday’s matchup with the Kansas City Royals. The Guardians (29-23) drop to third, a half-game behind the Twins.