DETROIT -- Nobody knows how many more starts Tarik Skubal will get as a Tiger with the Trade Deadline just four weeks away, but the reigning American League Cy Young Award-winner put on a show for the fans at Comerica Park on Tuesday night, striking out nine Athletics over five innings of one-run ball in a 6-2 victory.
Skubal, who picked up a pair of no-decisions while allowing five home runs combined to the White Sox and Yankees in starts last homestand, picked up where he left off last week, striking out nine batters for the second consecutive outing. He fanned the A’s in order in the first inning, just the second time in his career that he struck out his first three batters. The other time was June 9, 2024, against the Brewers.
Not only did Skubal fan the A’s in order to open his outing, he got them swinging on different secondary pitches -- Zack Gelof on the changeup, Nick Kurtz on the curveball and Shea Langeliers on the slider. He got all three again before his outing was done, all swinging and missing at fastballs at 97-plus mph.
Skubal froze Max Muncy on a 97 mph fastball to strand two runners in the second inning, then fanned Langeliers on another 97 mph heater as part of a third-inning escape with a runner on second. Still, the A’s made him work, grinding out six at-bats of six pitches or more. Kyle Finnegan was already warming in the bullpen when Langeliers worked an eight-pitch walk off Skubal with two outs in the sixth inning, but Skubal stayed in to get a Jonah Heim groundout and finish the frame.
Skubal’s lone run allowed came on a home run from rookie ninth hitter Henry Bolte, who connected with a 3-1 slider and sent it deep to left leading off the third inning.
Skubal is tentatively scheduled for one more start before the All-Star break, pitching Sunday’s first-half finale against the Phillies. That could change, manager A.J. Hinch told MLB Network Radio, depending as much on how much swingman Keider Montero pitches during the week as on how Skubal feels. With no All-Star selection to worry about and a four-day All-Star break, Hinch has some leeway with his ace.