Detroit – Tarik Skubal proved it once again.
He’s built for prime time. The bigger the stage, the brighter the lights, the louder the crowd, the higher the stakes, the more dominant he becomes.
The Tigers were on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball for the first time since 2017 and Skubal completely stole the show, striking out a career-high tying 13 in seven, one-hit scoreless innings as the Tigers won the rubber match against the Twins, 3-0, at Comerica Park.
How’s this for capturing an audience in the first act: Skubal struck out eight of the first nine Twins hitters including a run of seven straight.
He established his diabolical changeup early. Seven of the first eight strikeouts were on whiffs against the changeup. He ended up with 15 whiffs on 23 swings at the changeup (22 on 47 overall).
The lone hit came with one out in the fifth, a sinking line drive to right-center by Ty France.
He ended his outing by freezing France with a 99.7 mph four-seamer – it was the only one of his 13 strikeouts that came on a called third strike.
He walked off to a thunderous ovation from the sellout crowd at Comerica and he pounded his glove, applauding them back. He shared a huge hug with manager AJ Hinch in the dugout and watched relievers Tommy Kahnle and Will Vest (13th save) finish off his gem.
It was Skubal’s 10th straight win, the longest streak in the big leagues. It was his fifth straight win in June. He joins fellow Cy Young winners Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer as the only Tigers pitchers to post a 5-0 or better mark in June.
It was his 10th straight win at Comerica Park, too. It’s the longest active home win streak in baseball and the longest by a Tiger since David Wells won 11 straight between July of 1994 and July of 1995.
Skubal also became the first pitcher in Tigers’ history to punch out 13 in a game while allowing no more than one hit.
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And while Skubal was tormenting Twins hitters with his changeup, the Tigers were doing damage on changeups served by right-hander Chris Paddack.
Kerry Carpenter (No. 15) and Riley Greene (No. 19) both launched changeups into the right field seats. Both came on 3-2 pitches, Carpenter with two outs in the first and Greene leading off the fourth.
Carpenter also tripled in the third run with two outs in the fifth. But that was costly. His hamstring, for which he’s been taking daily treatment for more than a month, seemed to grab again as he rounded third.
He gingerly got to third base with a slide but Hinch immediately removed him for pinch-runner Wenceel Perez.
The Tigers (53-32) are on a 104-win pace. They are 30-14 at Comerica and have won 19 of 27 series with one tie.
This is a developing story. Come back soon to detroitnews.com for more on this game.