DETROIT — Before Gleyber Torres joined the Detroit Tigers this season, he always said the same thing about ace pitcher Tarik Skubal.

“He’s nasty.”

Torres is among the rare few that had some relative success hitting against the reigning American League Cy Young Winner during his time with the New York Yankees.

But Torres knows how capable Skubal is to be a menace for opposing hitters.

“I faced him many times before and I always say the same thing: he’s nasty. I’m glad to play with him,” the second baseman said. “It’s really special the way he pitches, the way he commands everything when he’s on the mound. I feel like he can control everything and how his personality is really good. I’m glad to compete with him.”

That command, control and nastiness were all on display for Skubal as he put another elite performance together against the Houston Astros Tuesday night at Comerica Park.

In a duel with Astros ace Hunter Brown, neither pitcher got the winning decision as the Tigers were victorious in extra innings. However Skubal’s seven shutout innings with 10 strikeouts were critical as Detroit blanked the AL West leaders in the first 19 innings of their series.

Notching his final strikeout in the seventh inning, Skubal became the first pitcher in the majors to reach 200 strikeouts this season, the second straight year he’s done so.

Skubal also joined 2002 Curt Schilling as the second pitcher in MLB history to record at least 200 strikeouts with 25 walks or fewer in his first 25 starts of a season.

Tuesday night Skubal felt like he had some trouble getting his lethal changeup going from the jump, not placing it precisely where he wanted.

He began to lean on his lesser-used slider to great effect. Skubal threw the pitch 11 times out of 95 pitches, getting six whiffs on eight swings at the slider.

“I can pitch to my strengths and I can pitch to guy’s weaknesses. I think (catcher Dillon Dingler) called a great game and just uniquely kind of used (the slider) in situations where we thought we could use it,” Skubal said. “Worked out good. It’s good to get some positive results on that pitch especially.”

The changeup eventually settled in and became even more dominant than it’s typically been this season.

For the year, Skubal’s changeup has a swing-and-miss rate of 47.8% — a top mark in the majors. Against the Astros it was 60% as he got 12 misses on 20 swings on the pitch.

The only real spot of trouble for Skubal came in the fourth inning when he allowed a two-out single to Yainer Diaz. Ramón Urías followed with a rocket down the right field line that threatened for extra bases.

Kerry Carpenter got the ball back toward the field for Torres, who heaved a throw to Dingler at the plate for the run-saving tag. After a prolonged review the play was confirmed by officials.

Skubal followed that precarious moment by retiring his final nine batters, which included six strikeouts, five of them chasing outside the zone for strike three.

“I tried to do my best to just live in pitch-by-pitch, not letting the last pitch impact my next pitch,” Skubal said. “That’s something I haven’t been great at recently.”

By Skubal’s lofty standards, he’s struggled lately, giving up 10 earned runs across his prior three starts — all of which the Tigers ended up winning — totaling 18 2/3 innings.

But in a big-time pitching matchup against a potential playoff opponent in the Astros, Skubal was sharp as ever and continues to prove he’s one of the best in the game.

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