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Detroit Tigers' Cy Young Favorite Makes Postseason History After Dominant Gem

Tarik Skubal was nearly unhittable as the Tigers evened up the series with the Cleveland Guardians.

Brady Farkas

Detroit Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal (29) celebrates after a double play that ended the sixth inning against the Cleveland Guardians during game two of the ALDS for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Progressive Field on Oct 7.
Detroit Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal (29) celebrates after a double play that ended the sixth inning against the Cleveland Guardians during game two of the ALDS for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Progressive Field on Oct 7. / David Richard-Imagn Images
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The Detroit Tigers evened up the best-of-five American League Division Series on Monday afternoon, beating the Cleveland Guardians 3-0 at Progressive Field.

In dramatic fashion, Tigers slugger Kerry Carpenter hit a three-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning off closer Emmanuel Clase to provide the only scoring of the game. Clase had given up just two home runs all season, and none to left-handers.

In addition to Carpenter's theatrics, the Tigers got another great pitching performance from American League Cy Young favorite Tarik Skubal.

The lefty went 7.0 scoreless innings, giving up just three hits. He walked none and struck out eight. Through two starts this postseason, he still has an ERA of 0.00.

He's also made some special baseball history, according to @OptaSTATS:

Tarik Skubal of the @tigers is the first pitcher in MLB history to pitch at least 6.0 shutout innings while allowing fewer than 6 baserunners (H/BB/HBP) in each of his first 2 career postseason starts.

Skubal has fanned 14 batters in his 13.0 playoff innings. In the regular season, Skubal dominated the league, going 18-4 with a 2.39 ERA. He won the pitching triple crown by striking out 228 batters in 192.0 innings as well.

The Tigers and Guardians will take Tuesday off before heading to Detroit for Game 3. This is the Tigers first playoff appearance since 2014, so the crowd will certainly be lively.

First pitch on Wednesday is set for 3:08 p.m. ET. The Guardians will be throwing Alex Cobb while the Tigers haven't named a starter yet.

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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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