MILWAUKEE -- With the bases loaded, two outs in the bottom of the sixth and an even 2-2 count Monday night, Tarik Skubal reared back with a four-seamer and launched it toward home plate.
That 99.6 mph fastball zoomed past swinging Brewers first baseman Rhys Hoskins, who ended a perfect-game bid the inning before. And as he hopped off the American Family Field mound, Skubal pounded his glove and let out a big roar -- fitting, considering his status as the Tigers' ace.
Sure, that sixth-inning strikeout kept Milwaukee scoreless in a game Detroit already led by nine and eventually won, 9-1. And, yes, it was the only time the Brewers truly tested Skubal. It was, though, the kind of moment that reminds everyone of how Skubal dominated his way to the American League Cy Young Award.
¡°I care about every inning,¡± Skubal said. ¡°I care about every inning getting zeros and getting our team back in ready to hit. I try not to let the score impact who I am. I'm pitching every game as if it's 0-0.¡±
¡°Obviously he's a competitive guy,¡± Hoskins said of Skubal¡¯s display of emotion. ¡°I can appreciate that. I play the game with some emotion, too. Whether that's with his team or competing with himself, I don't think that bothers me at all.¡±
Throughout his outing, Skubal was dominant.
He struck out nine across seven shutout innings -- the deepest he¡¯s pitched into a start in ¡®25 -- with that bases-loaded spot the only frame the Brewers had multiple runners on. It was such a stellar start, the 28-year-old needed just 41 pitches to move through four perfect frames.
While he was on point with his entire repertoire, Skubal led with the changeup. He threw that on 31 of his 91 pitches, the fourth-highest usage of the changeup (percentage-wise) of his career. Though he said after the game he lost the feel for it later on -- causing him to shake off a few calls for it -- the changeup still managed a 60 percent whiff rate.
¡°It just makes him incredibly difficult to time up,¡± manager A.J. Hinch said. ¡°I mean, the fastball alone, if he just threw all fastballs, he'd be hard to time up, but the fact that he can disrupt timing with the changeup. ¡ It's an exceptional pitch for his arsenal, because it rounds it out to being a dominant type of arsenal.¡±
While Skubal held Milwaukee off the board, Detroit¡¯s lineup gave him plenty of support. Left fielder Kerry Carpenter moved into a tie atop the Tigers¡¯ leaderboard with his fifth home run of the season. Every starter contributed either a run or an RBI (four did both).
Though they didn¡¯t score again after the top of the fifth, the lineup provided Skubal more than enough run support.
¡°If we give him one, it seems like we're going to win. Giving him a lot, I hope he can just go out there and be free,¡± Carpenter said. ¡°He's out there free anyway, so, yeah, we have a good chance whenever we put up a lot of runs off of their guy and have Skubal on the mound.¡±
¡°It's huge, and especially to a club like this that likes to kind of cause chaos when they get on the basepaths,¡± Skubal said. ¡°I give up a leadoff single, and they don't even try to run. I appreciate that a lot of our offense. You never take those runs for granted.¡±
After the Tigers¡¯ last run scored in the top of the fifth, all eyes were on Skubal. Though he¡¯d lost the perfect game on Hoskins¡¯ single, Detroit still led by nine. Skubal could¡¯ve coasted until his night was over.
That¡¯s not how he operates, though. He continued to attack Milwaukee¡¯s lineup with his best. And in a bases-loaded spot that ultimately may not have mattered as far as the final score, his focus on the task at hand resulted in a roar that fired up the other Tigers, too.
¡°Everything matters to Tarik, and to the rest of our team,¡± Hinch said. ¡°That's a big spot to where they're trying to chip away, and it could change pitching decisions, could change his outing. It allowed him to go back out again.
¡°I mean, that's kind of what we expect out of Tarik when it comes to the emotion, because everything does matter to him.¡±