Detroit — Tarik Skubal may have put to rest any questions, if any, about his Cy Young candidacy.
The Tigers’ left-hander steamrolled the Tampa Bay Rays’ batting order two and a half times on Tuesday, allowing two singles and a walk and not putting a runner in scoring position in seven innings.
He managed seven strikeouts. He managed 18 mishits on 56 pitches, 15 of which were counted as strikes, and the 15 balls put in play against him had a modest average exit velocity of 81 mph.
In other words, he was dominant, and he helped the Tigers earn a crucial 2-1 victory on a rainy, foggy day at Comerica Park. With that win, the Tigers (83-74) remain ahead of the Twins and now have the final wild-card spot, regardless of the outcome of the Twins game on Tuesday night.
▶ RESULT: Tigers 2, Rays 1
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The game was moved up to 1:10 p.m. to avoid storms forecast for later, and was delayed 49 minutes. The crowd was reported at 22,770, but the time difference and weather kept some of those ticket holders away. But the crowd was loud and proud, giving Skubal a huge round of applause after he ended his day with a strikeout of Christopher Morel to end the seventh inning.
Skubal was in complete control even without his most electrifying fastball. The average speed of his four-seam and two-seam fastballs was nearly 1 mph lower. Still, he managed to keep the balls away from the Rays’ runs as catcher Jake Rogers again masterfully timed the throws.
In addition to the seven strikeouts, he caused eight ground ball outs.
The seven zeros lowered his American League-best ERA to 2.39. It was also his league-best 18th win by a pitcher. The Tigers are 21-10 in his 31 starts.
Unless the Tigers have already secured a place in the playoffs by then, Skubal is scheduled to make his final appearance in the regular season on Sunday in the season finale against the White Sox.
Beau Brieske finished the final two innings, getting five outs in a row before Brandon Lowe hit a two-out home run in the ninth inning.
The Tigers have improved in many areas over the course of the season, especially in terms of hitting discipline.
A typical example: rookie Wenceel Perez on Tuesday.
While the Tigers struggled to understand Rays right-hander Ryan Pepiot, Perez allowed himself and his teammates to see all of his pitches, drawing an 11-pitch walk in the first inning.
In the fourth inning, he worked a six-pitch walk and was left standing on third base when Pepiot took both Colt Keith and Spencer Torkelson out of the game.
In the fifth inning, Perez had two outs and the bases were loaded. The game was still scoreless and Pepiot had just gotten Kerry Carpenter out with a pitch.
Perez fell behind 2-0 but fought through and extended his at-bat. He got back to 3-2, fouling off two cutters in a row and hitting another cutter into right field on the ninth pitch of the at-bat.
The ball bounced over the short wall once, scoring a two-run ground-rule double.
That was all the offensive power the Tigers could or needed.
@cmccosky
