Fastball

Detroit Tigers Ace Moves Up Another Prestigious List as Playoff Chase Continues

The Detroit Tigers beat the Kansas City Royals again on Wednesday night as they creep closer to a playoff appearance.

Brady Farkas

Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Tarik Skubal (29) throws the ball to first base for an out in the third inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium on Sept 19.
Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Tarik Skubal (29) throws the ball to first base for an out in the third inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium on Sept 19. / Peter Aiken-Imagn Images
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The red-hot Detroit Tigers moved even closer to a playoff appearance on Wednesday night by beating the Kansas City Royals, 4-2.

After the three-game sweep, Detroit is now 80-73 on the season. They are just 0.5 games back of the Minnesota Twins for the third wild card spot in the American League entering play on Thursday.

In the win, Tigers All-Star and ace Tarik Skubal set the tone by tossing 5.0 innings. He allowed three hits and one earned run. Skubal walked one and struck out seven, and those seven K's brought him into a tie on a prestigious list in team history.

Per @StatsCentre (from before the game):

An AL Cy Young hopeful, Tarik Skubal looks to help his @Tigers continue their quest for a Wild Card spot in a start later today vs KC. Sitting 4th in MLB with 214 strikeouts so far this season, he can tie for 7th on this franchise with 7 or more tonight (his 30th outing of 2024)

By getting those seven strikeouts, he now has 221 strikeouts through his first 30 starts in a season, tied with Mickey Lolich back in 1969. That trails only Max Scherzer (3x), Justin Verlander (2x) and Matthew Boyd (1x).

The presumptive Cy Young favorite in the American League, Skubal is 17-4 this year with a 2.48 ERA. He has struck out those 221 batters in 185.0 innings.

The 84-year-old Lolich spent 16 years in the big leagues with the Tigers and San Diego Padres. He went 217-191 with a 3.44 ERA and was a three-time All-Star. He led the Major Leagues in wins with 25 back in 1971. He also helped Detroit win the 1968 World Series.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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