Tigers vs. Guardians Game 2: How Tarik Skubal has fared as The Stopper after a Detroit loss

Sometimes, 11 pitches are all you need to beat the world.

That’s all Tarik Skubal needed, at least, a few months ago at Comerica Park.

Five to Brewers leadoff hitter Joey Ortiz. Strikeout looking.

Three to DH Rhys Hoskins. Swinging, two outs.

Three more to former NL MVP Christian Yelich. Swinging again. Inning over.

And the Detroit Tigers , entering on a three-game skid, suddenly felt like they could beat anyone after thumping Milwaukee, 10-2.

"You strike out the side, you give the offense momentum going into their side,” Skubal told reporters in June after striking out 10 Brewers in all. “That's the little momentum part of the game that, especially as a starter, you want to set the tone in the first."

That was the sixth time this season Skubal started the game after a Tigers loss.

And now, 120 days later, he’s tasked with doing it again, as the left-hander takes the mound for Game 2 of the ALDS (4:08 p.m., TBS) against the Cleveland Guardians , with his Tigers down 1-0 in the series.

REQUIRED READING: What Tigers' A.J. Hinch learned from Bruce Bochy and how it could help beat Cleveland

But for one day, at least, the Tigers can put away the “ pitching chaos ” (as detailed by the Freep’s Jeff Seidel).

For one day, their old friend Mr. TBD can pull up a chair in the Progressive Field bullpen, grab a Sugardale hot dog (Bertman’s Mustard only, please) and watch the American League’s best pitcher (by stats, if not by award — yet) work wonders.

Opener? Closer? Nope, it’s time for The Stopper.

Hello, and welcome to the Stop, Drop and Roll Newsletter.

Since that start against the Brewers, Skubal has taken the ball following a Tigers loss seven more times — 13 in all — with the Tigers going 9-4 in those starts.

He hasn’t been perfect, of course. No starter is (at least not over 190-odd innings). But the winner of the AL’s pitching Triple Crown this season has been about as good as you could hope for in those 13 starts, with a 2.86 ERA and 100 strikeouts over 81⅔ innings. That ERA alone would rank third in the AL for the season, if it was over enough innings to qualify. And his strikeout rate of 11.02 whiffs per nine innings? It’d be No. 1, topping the AL leader by a quarter of a strikeout.

[ MUST LISTEN: Tigers radio analyst Bobby Scales joins our "Days of Roar" podcast to debate how the Tigers should contend with Cleveland’s dominant pitching, and to relive Tigers sweet sweep of Houston. Subscribe to the show and find it available anywhere you listen to podcasts ( Apple , Spotify ) ]

April 5: Tigers 5, Athletics 4 — Skubal allowed one hit (a two-out single in the first) over the first five innings before finishing with four earned runs and nine strikeouts over 6⅓ innings in a no-decision, with the Tigers scoring the winning run in the eighth.

May 5: Yankees 5, Tigers 2 — The Yankees got two runs off Skubal early before he settled down to strike out 12 over six innings, including an exquisite third inning in which he struck out sluggers Juan Soto (looking), Aaron Judge (swinging) and Giancarlo Stanton (swinging) on 12 total pitches.

May 11: Tigers 8, Astros 2 — The Tigers’ two-game skid was ended by Skubal’s two runs allowed over 6⅓ innings as he allowed seven hits and two walks while striking out seven. (The Tigers scoring seven runs in the second inning helped, too.)

May 17: Tigers 13, Diamondbacks 0 — Another game with generous run support (albeit in the fifth inning), but Skubal only needed one run, as he allowed one hit — a one-out double in the fifth — and struck out six in six innings.

May 22: Royals 8, Tigers 3 — Skubal’s kryptonite — Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri — struck again, as he surrendered four runs on six hits and two walks while striking out six in five innings, and the Tigers’ skid hit four games.

June 9: Tigers 10, Brewers 2 — Skubal scattered five hits — four singles and an outing-ending triple —and allowed one run over 6⅔ innings while striking out 10 Brewers (but you knew that already).

June 19: Braves 7, Tigers 0 — His shortest outing of the season lasted just four innings as the Braves tagged him for seven hits (including two home runs) and five runs (four earned), though he did strike out seven.

June 25: Tigers 4, Phillies 1 — This was the start that seemingly locked in Skubal’s Cy Young candidacy as he outdueled the NL’s then-ERA leader, Ranger Suárez, with seven innings of shutout ball. Skubal struck out seven and allowed just three hits: a single by Whit Merrifield in the second, double by Bryce Harper in the third, and single by Kyle Schwarber in the fifth.

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July 22: Tigers 8, Guardians 2 — After a perfect 12-pitch first inning, Skubal slogged through the Guardians’ lineup, allowing 10 hits over his final six innings, but just one run while striking out six. "They had made a full team commitment to not pull off the ball and let him utilize his changeup," manager A.J. Hinch told reporters . "That's as good of an approach against Tarik as I've seen this year."

July 27: Tigers 7, Twins 2 — A leadoff single. A one-out homer a batter later. That was the extent of the serious damage allowed by Skubal, who finished with just the two runs allowed (plus three more hits and two walks) over seven innings while striking out eight Twins.

Aug. 2: Royals 9, Tigers 2 — Another rough one in K.C., as a four-game skid became five with Skubal tagged for five runs on seven hits and two walks over 6⅓ innings despite eight strikeouts. (Though he departed trailing just 3-2 after having given up a pair of singles, both of which came around to score with Shelby Miller on the mound.)

Aug. 31: Tigers 2, Red Sox 1 — At eight innings, this start that ended a two-game Tigers skid is the longest outing of Skubal’s five seasons, though he threw just 98 pitches in holding the BoSox to four hits and one run — on a two-out homer in the first inning — with eight strikeouts.

TRENDING: Freep’s Tigers beat writer is noticeably absent from coverage. Here’s why

Oct. 2: Tigers 3, Astros 1 — Skubal’s six scoreless innings, in which he allowed just four hits and one walk and struck out six in his MLB postseason debut, were an effective antidote to the bittersweet finish to the regular season, which saw the Tigers back into the playoffs with a pair of losses to the historically awful White Sox at home.

And now? The Tigers’ skid is just one game. But in the postseason, one game can feel like a lifetime.

That is, unless Skubal can spin a little more momentum with another 11 pitches this afternoon.

The man with the plan

Of course, turning to an ace with a playoff series on the line is perhaps the most normal thing Hinch has done over the past three months. And that’s by design. As he told the Freep’s Jeff Seidel back in February, good managers have a plan, but great managers are willing to “veer off the norm,” series by series, in search of the smallest edges in a time when the smallest plays are magnified.

The ace with the pace

Then again, Hinch was very deliberate on Sunday about stating that today’s game wasn’t do-or-die. Technically correct — the best kind of correct — but, uh, 0-2 deficits in MLB’s best-of-five series generally don’t go well for trailing teams, with just seven of 66 rallying to advance. And that, as the Freep’s Shawn Windsor points out, makes Skubal’s start absolutely vital .

The mentor from the … uh … ground floor

Points off for stretching the rhyme, but we were desperate after spending three or so years writing, “Yeah, Boyyyyyd!” on items about today’s starter for the Guardians, former Tiger Matthew Boyd. The lefty, naturally, was a role model for Skubal when he arrived in the Tigers organization in 2018. But, as Our Man Seidel discovered, that resulted in Skubal becoming a role model for Boyd this past offseason, as he was rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, a procedure Skubal got back in college (in Seattle, near where Boyd grew up, because there are layers and layers here). And now they’re facing each other in the playoffs.

The dust of the Rust (Belt)

Close ties between Cleveland and Detroit? You don’t say! Yes, the cities separated only by Lake Erie share a history and an attitude … but not, as Our Man Windsor observed, much of a sporting rivalry, thanks to a mashup of poor timing and poor on-field performances . That doesn’t mean they don’t have ANY history, though, as we broke it down before the first-ever playoff matchup of these two charter members of the American League .

3 to watch

But back to the here-and-now (and away with the rhyming), with three (or five, depending on your accounting style) Tigers to watch this week:

THE HITTING COACHES: Not one, not two, but THREE coaches have Tigers hitters prepped for whatever comes next.

JACKSON JOBE: The phenom’s playoff debut was a bit shaky, but his manager isn’t worried a bit.

JAKE ROGERS: Everyone’s favorite mustache is doing triple duty: hitting, working with seven pitchers in a single game , and showing up on the Freep’s front page .

The kids with the bids

Jobe, of course, rocketed through the Tigers system, going from a high school No. 3 overall pick in 2021 to high-leverage playoff reliever in just over three years. (That “veer off the norm” thing, we guess.) But before he got the call to Detroit, he spent time with Double-A Erie — last season and this one — where he got an early taste of winning. Just like so many of these young Tigers , as Our Man Seidel dug into. The SeaWolves mantra? Calm heartbeat.

Mark your calendar!

Then again, staying calm would be a lot easier if we hadn’t reached the point of the year when we’re on a day-to-day basis. As in, we know there’s a game today — you can check in here for the lineup when it’s announced, and then come back to freep.com for live updates all game — but after that? There’s a game at Comerica Park at 3:08 p.m. Wednesday. And then … who knows? The Tigers need to win Monday or Wednesday to force a Game 4 Thursday night at the CoPa (at roughly the same time as the Red Wings opener — that should be fun) with potentially another outing from Reese Olson , according to Our Man Windsor. A theoretical Game 5 (a second Skubal start) would be Saturday in Cleveland. And after that? The ALCS — in K.C. or New York — starts Monday.

Tigers birthdays this week: Enos Cabell (75 on Tuesday), Donie Bush (would have been 137 on Tuesday; died in 1972), Derek Holland (38 on Wednesday), Shelby Miller (34 on Thursday), Plácido Polanco (49 on Thursday), Gio Urshela (33 on Friday), Dmitri Young (51 on Friday), Ricky Vanasco (26 on Sunday), Jim Price (would have been 83 on Sunday; died in 2023), Eddie Mathews (would have been 93 on Sunday; died in 2001), Bill Donovan (would have been 148 on Sunday; died in 1923).

TL;DR

Since this is the last week for Cleveland/Detroit history stats, we’ll close with this: In the four major pro sports, Detroit leads Cleveland, regular season and playoffs, by 25 wins, 1,286-1,261, with three ties. That includes a 19-6 edge for the Lions (including three NFL title game wins), a 132-105 edge for the Pistons (despite an ugly 6-15 mark in the playoffs), a 4-5-1 deficit for the Red Wings against the defunct Cleveland Barons of the 1970s and, finally, a 1,125-1,130-2 deficit for the Tigers (including Saturday’s loss).

But most importantly? Tarik Skubal is 2-2 lifetime against Cleveland, with four no-decisions. Time for a tiebreaker?

Contact Ryan Ford at rford@freepress.com . Follow him on X (which used to be Twitter, y’know?) @theford .

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Tigers vs. Guardians Game 2: How Tarik Skubal has fared as The Stopper after a Detroit loss