Fastball

Detroit Tigers' Cy Young Hopeful Joins Franchise Legends in History with Saturday Start

Tarik Skubal is trying to finish off a Cy Young season for the Detroit Tigers!

Brady Farkas

Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Tarik Skubal (29) delivers a pitch against the Chicago White Sox during the first inning at Guaranteed Rate Field on Aug 24.
Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Tarik Skubal (29) delivers a pitch against the Chicago White Sox during the first inning at Guaranteed Rate Field on Aug 24. / Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports
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The Detroit Tigers routed the Chicago White Sox 13-4 on Saturday night at Guaranteed Rate Field. With the win, the Tigers are closing in on .500 (64-66) while the White Sox continued their historic season by falling to 31-99.

Starting pitcher Tarik Skubal went 5.0 innings for Detroit, surendering three earned runs on eight hits. He walked none and struck out eight. With a 15-4 record and a 2.58 ERA, Skubal is looking like the favorite in the American League for the Cy Young Award.

With his eight-strikeout performance on Saturday, he placed himself in some elite company with franchise legends.

Per @StatsCentre on social media:

Most strikeouts by a #Tigers pitcher in their first 26 games of a season:
205- Max Scherzer (2014)
204- Justin Verlander (2009)
201- Matthew Boyd (2019)
196- Verlander (2011)
196- Scherzer (2013)
195- Scherzer (2012)
193- Tarik Skubal (2024 via 8 on Friday)
192- Verlander (2012)

The Tigers are reportedly going to begin to limit Skubal's workload in an effort to keep him healthy. He missed half of last season while recovering from injury and is already at a career-high in innings pitched (160.1). Recently, Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees called him the best pitcher in the entire league.

The Tigers will take on the White Sox again on Sunday afternoon with first pitch coming at 2:10 p.m. ET. Right-hander Beau Briske will serve as the starting pitcher for the Tigers while Jonathan Cannon is the starter for Chicago.

Brieske is 2-3 on the season with a 4.24 ERA. Cannon is 2-7 with a 4.26.

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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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