Skubal's favorite taco joint can wait. He's got a game to win

SEATTLE -- Please don’t take it personally, Seattle.

Tarik Skubal has a special spot in his heart for the city he’s often said is a second home to him. It represents the one place that took a chance on a high school kid from Kingman, Ariz., all those years ago.

Seattle welcomed him with open arms during those crucial formative college years and continued to mold him into the fiery pitcher we see today. It also brought him Tacos Chukis, Redhawks baseball and a newfound sense of adulthood and independence some 1,200 miles from home.

Skubal has things planned before and after Sunday’s game to show his love for the Emerald City, from a locally catered dinner for his teammates to treating the Seattle University baseball team with tickets to the game. But now that we’ve let you know how dear this place is to him, we feel obliged to warn you that there’s also something very, very important to remember about Tarik Skubal.

For a few hours during Game 2 of the American League Division Series, he’ll do all he can to repay Seattle’s kindness by sticking a thumb directly into its eye.

Because if there’s one thing he likes more than anything, it’s winning.

“I love it. I love the environment. It's what you prepare for. It's what you work for. It's why you do the things you do in the offseason,” Skubal said Friday prior to Game 1 of the ALDS at T-Mobile Park. “It's all for moments like this. To just go play baseball on the biggest stage [and] to go out and compete and win a championship. It's why I do what I do. It's all the motivation that I need.

“Winning is everything to me, so it's a great opportunity to go out and compete and show that all the work you've put in is worth it for moments like this.”

Skubal pitches just once every five days, and there’s no question that he leaves it all on the mound each time. But where the Tigers’ ace has really separated himself from the pack lies in those days between. He’s not content with a bullpen session and a bit of stretching between outings. Skubal is anything but passive on his “down” days. There’s always something to be done, fine-tune or study up on.

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While his teammates milled about before their off-day workout Friday, Skubal walked into the clubhouse after his workout with the same determined stride he takes in from the bullpen on game days, threw a foam roller on the floor and also “relaxed” … aggressively.

There is no halfway with this guy and no off switch, and that -- even more so than the Cy Young Award or the Triple Crown or anything else he’s accomplished in his career to this point -- is what should be feared.

“He's just an incredibly talented pitcher who puts in the work,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “If you don't watch us or you don't know him, you look out at his presence, you see the velo, you see the stuff, you see the hardware [and] you've probably heard of him if you haven't watched him.

“But I get the true opportunity to sit and watch him between starts, and how he's put together not just a good start, not just a good stretch, but an expectation within himself to be elite.”

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That elite preparation also includes holding off on Tacos Chukis for now, though it hasn’t been easy. “I have dreams of this place,” he admitted with a laugh.

This March, in his first visit to town as a big league pitcher, Skubal ordered delivery for the whole team after his start, something he’ll do again Sunday. He values his ties to his alma mater, too, connecting with the Redhawks both in March and during this trip as a way to pay back the only Division I team to offer him a scholarship by offering advice and inspiration.

“This place will always have a special place in my heart, for sure,” Skubal said.

But don’t expect him to show it any mercy on Sunday. The Mariners bested Skubal’s Tigers during his last start here on April 2, catching him for three earned runs over 5 2/3 innings. He’s done all he can ahead of time to ensure that things are different this time around.

Because if there’s one thing he loves the taste of more than those tacos, it’s victory.