CLEVELAND – Tarik Skubal put the Detroit Tigers on his back and simply wouldn’t allow them to lose to the Cleveland Guardians again.
The Guardians are one of the few teams that have figured out how to beat or get a no-decision out of Skubal, but that notion was flipped upside down today when Skubal matched a career high by fanning 14 batters, simultaneously setting a franchise record for strikeouts in a postseason game as the Tigers defeated the Guardians 3-1 in game one of the 2025 American League Wild Card Series.
He gave up three hits, three walks, and one run, but was consistently able to reset and slow things down.
“I think your breath is probably the most important thing you can do. Just breathe out there. I think a lot of moments that happen that are out of your control or in your control, you know, just breathe,” Skubal said.
“I do some breath work stuff, and I think it applies to the game. Just keep your brain in a good spot.”
The frustration was previously warranted because of the Tiger’s collapse down the stretch. The way the Guardians have pestered Skubal was part of the Tigers’ MLB record-breaking 15 ½ game blown lead in the American League Central. They lost five of their final six games against the Guardians, all in a two-week span dating back to Sept. 16.
Logic would say that’s the last team they would see in the postseason, although the Tigers didn’t back down and Skubal refused to give in.
“It means a lot to take the ball game one. To have the trust of our whole organization, teammates, coaches, you know, coaching staff, it means a lot,” Skubal said. “And it doesn’t really matter how we got here. We got in. Everybody’s in the same boat. And we’re up 1-0 in a best-of-three. So it doesn’t really matter how you get here, as long as you get in.”
This was the right spot for Skubal to rectify the mistake of not only losing two games in that six-game stretch but also being eliminated on this same field in game five of the American League Division Series last year.
I think having Tarik at the beginning of the series, in any series, whether it’s regular season or certainly the postseason, is a huge boost for us,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said.
In his last two starts, including game one of the Wild Card Series, he has combined to allow four runs, but not one ball left the infield in those situations.
The Tigers got him an early lead in the first with an RBI single from first baseman Spencer Torkelson that brought in Kerry Carpenter. Skubal made it stand up until “Guards Ball” came into play with a walk and two infield singles to tie it up in the fourth.
Skubal only allowed one batter to reach second outside of that funky fourth, and it was on his 107th pitch of the game with one left in the eighth inning when his manager, A.J. Hinch decided to pull him and go to their closer Will Vest.
Skubal was in line to get the win because of a Riley Greene double, an error, and a sacrifice bunt in the seventh that gave them a 2-1 lead.
“Anyone new to the Tigers/Guardians, this is what they look like. Like every game. And obviously, Tarik set an incredible tone for us,” Hinch said. “He’s been incredible for us all season, but what a performance at the biggest moments in the biggest stage to get us in a great position to win the game.”
His stuff was as good as it’s ever been today with fastballs at 101 mph, nasty changeups, and spinning sliders. He was in lockstep with the Tigers catcher Dillon Dingler and didn’t shake him off at all.
It was a 2-1 game, so of course it was far from smooth sailing, and things got particularly dicey with Vest in the bottom of the ninth, after shortstop Javier Baez made an unfortunate error. It was a terrific stop, but the throw was wide and went into an extremely awkward spot that allowed Jose Ramirez to motor all the way to third base.
Ramirez bailed them out by running on contact with one out on a ball hit right back to Vest on the mound.
A runner on third base, with a 2-1 lead, on the road, and with nobody out. What was going through A.J. Hinch’s mind?
“Never a doubt. I don’t think anyone had a doubt. In our room, in this room, their room,” the Detroit skipper said. “Everybody knew it would work out the way that it did. You have to keep playing, obviously. Even after the first one, you’re still not out of it. And then the second one, you’re still not out of it. And then obviously, we got that we had to make plays.”
Photo: Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Tarik Skubal throws during the second inning of Game 1 of the American League Wild Card baseball playoff against the Cleveland Guardians series in Cleveland, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
