DETROIT (AP) — Seattle U product Tarik Skubal did something he’s never done and something no MLB pitcher has ever done during the Detroit Tigers’ 5-0 victory over the Cleveland Guardians on Sunday.
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Skubal allowed two hits and no runs on his way to his first professional complete game. The left-hander matched a career high with 13 strikeouts and needed just 94 pitches to get through shutout, completing a Maddux (a complete game shutout with less than 100 pitches named after four-time Cy Young winner Greg Maddux).
Skubal also made MLB history in the process. According to MLB.com’s Brent Maguire, Skubal became the first pitcher to throw a Maddux and strike out at least 13 batters since pitch-count tracking started in 1988.
The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner was perfect through five innings and finished with a nearly flawless performance. He had a baserunner for the first time after Will Wilson doubled on the second pitch of the sixth.
Skubal (5-2) gave up only one more hit and hit one batter with a pitch in a masterful, 94-pitch outing that included just 22 balls. He ended it with a strikeout of Gabriel Arias on a 102.6 mph fastball. It was the eighth complete game in the major leagues this season and fifth individual shutout.
Skubal also became the first in Tigers history to have 10-plus strikeouts in four straight home games.
A native of Hayward, Calif., Skubal spent four seasons at Seattle U where he was a second-team All-WAC selection as a freshman in 2015. He missed part of the 2016 season and all of 2017 after undergoing Tommy John surgery, returned in 2018 and became ninth-round pick by Detroit.
Skubal went 18-4 with a 2.39 ERA and 228 strikeouts over 192 innings last season while winning his first Cy Young. He’s a frontrunner once again this year, posting a 5-2 record, 2.49 ERA and 92 strikeouts over 68 2/3 innings in his first 11 starts. He’s won five straight decisions since dropping his first two starts.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
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