Coming off a shaky appearance in the All-Star Game, reigning AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal quickly returned to form, helping the Detroit Tigers secure a 2-1 victory over the Texas Rangers on Sunday.
Skubal didn’t look sharp during his All-Star outing last Tuesday in Atlanta, surrendering three hits and a run in the first inning. But once regular season play resumed, the Tigers’ ace picked up right where he left off.
Tasked with stopping a potential sweep, Skubal took the mound in the series finale against Texas and delivered another strong performance. Corey Seager continued to be a tough matchup, collecting two hits to improve to 8-for-12 against Skubal over their last several meetings. Outside of Seager, though, Skubal was in command.
His lone blemish came after he exited the game with two outs in the seventh. Adolis GarcÃa, who had doubled off Skubal, came around to score on a wild pitch by reliever Tyler Holton, with the run being charged to Skubal.
The Tigers answered in the eighth with a go-ahead RBI single from Matt Vierling and held on for the win. Skubal finished the night with 11 strikeouts over 6.2 innings, allowing just four hits and no walks.
Per MLB.com’s Sarah Langs, Skubal now has five starts this season with 10+ strikeouts, zero walks, and one or fewer runs allowed—tied for the most such games in a single season since at least 1900. Only Corbin Burnes (2021), Gerrit Cole (2021), and Clayton Kershaw (2015) have matched that mark.
Despite earning a no-decision, Skubal’s ERA dropped to 2.19, and his WHIP improved to 0.815. The 28-year-old currently leads the American League in strikeout rate and owns the lowest walk rate across all of MLB.
The Tigers head to Pittsburgh for a series against the Pirates starting Monday. Skubal is expected to make his next start at home next weekend when Detroit hosts the Toronto Blue Jays.
