Skubal sets not one, but TWO postseason strikeout records in Game 5
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SEATTLE -- Tarik Skubal entered from T-Mobile Park's left-field bullpen just before Friday’s winner-take-all Game 5 of the ALDS, looking a lot like a heavyweight prizefighter headed to the ring for a title bout. The stalk, the focus, the entourage behind him led by batterymate Dillon Dingler … it was all there.
Unlike his starts at Comerica Park, though, Skubal’s journey across the grass and into the visitor’s dugout was met with relatively little fanfare. Whereas Tigers faithful rise as one to cheer for their Cy Young winner when the bullpen door swings open at home, the home crowd was so focused on its starter’s entry that it barely paid Skubal any mind.
That was fine with Skubal. He’d force them to pay attention soon enough.
“There was never a doubt he was going to come through when the lights were brightest,” Spencer Torkelson said after the Tigers’ season ended with a 3-2 loss to Seattle in 15 innings. “Skub’s the man. He’s our guy, and he was our guy tonight; we just fell short.”
Beginning with his K of Victor Robles for the final out of the second inning and bookended with his strikeout of Eugenio Suárez in the fourth, Detroit’s ace fanned seven Mariners in a row to set the postseason record for consecutive strikeouts in a game. Eight pitchers had previously had six straight strikeouts in a playoff game, the most recent being Blue Jays rookie Trey Yesavage in Game 2 of the ALDS against the Yankees on Sunday.
Skubal’s four-seamer was as alive as his changeup was deadly Friday night, and he played them effortlessly off each other throughout the streak. The high-80s offering and the triple-digit pitch look nearly identical coming out of Skubal’s hand, combining to make a lot of very good Seattle hitters take some very bad swings as they waved at pitch after pitch as it passed.
Skubal is the first pitcher in postseason history with 10+ strikeouts and no walks through the first four innings of a game. His 56 K’s through his first six career postseason outings are behind only Hall of Famer Bob Gibson, who had 57.
“He was incredible,” Detroit manager A.J. Hinch said. “He kick-started this in such a good direction. He missed a ton of bats. If you're not a fan of the Tigers, and you haven't watched Tarik start after start after start, you're going to see why he gets the love that he does, because he's incredible.”
All seven K’s during the streak were swinging, and four came on a changeup. Randy Arozarena was 6-for-21 in his career against Skubal when he came to the plate in the third inning. Arozarena took the first pitch he saw, a changeup, for a ball, then watched two fastballs for strikes and fouled off a third to remain in a 1-2 count.
Skubal responded to the stalemate by breaking Arozarena’s bat off at the handle with a 100.1 mph heater on the next pitch.
Seattle’s leadoff hitter grabbed a new bat, but he wouldn’t need it. Arozarena swung so hard at the next pitch -- a sneaky 88.9 mph changeup -- that his helmet spun off his head and into the air. He caught it with his free hand, heading back to the dugout as one of the few Mariners who had something to show from their showdown with Skubal.
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The 28-year-old steered the conversation away from himself and toward his teammates after Detroit’s luck finally ran out in the bottom of the 15th inning, nearly five hours after Skubal threw his first pitch.
“He emptied his tank, and obviously was emotional coming off the mound [after the sixth],” Hinch said. “I think that signals exactly where we were in the game. He gave us everything he could.”
Skubal’s run of strikeouts ended when Josh Naylor lined out to center field to lead off the bottom of the fifth inning. That didn’t slow Detroit’s ace, who wrapped six innings of one-run ball by striking out Mariners slugger Cal Raleigh with a 100.9 mph four-seamer. According to MLB.com researcher Sarah Langs, it was his fifth strikeout of 100-plus mph this postseason, the most by any starting pitcher in a single postseason in the pitch-tracking era (since 2008).
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It marked Skubal’s 13th strikeout of the night, and it left the crowd of 47,025 at T-Mobile Park just as quiet as it had been when he first jogged in from the outfield pregame.
Sometimes, silence speaks louder than anything else.
"He put all out on the line today, and he put it all out on the line all season," Dingler said. "That's the kind of pitcher he is. They had good at-bats against him early. He could've went all nine if they didn't drive his pitch count up. ...
"He's awesome. I'll always remember this season and what he accomplished."