If Wednesday afternoon was Tarik Skubal’s final start with the Detroit Tigers, he went out on a high note — even if his team did not. Skubal held the Baltimore Orioles to three runs on four singles and a walk in 6 ⅔ innings at Comerica Park (BAL 10, DET 9 in 12 innings), striking out six. Reliever Kyle Finnegan allowed two inherited runners to score, which put a dent in Skubal’s final line.
Tigers manager A.J. Hinch removed Skubal at 92 pitches after he allowed an RBI single to Leody Taveras in the seventh inning to score the Orioles’ first run. The crowd gave the reigning two-time Cy Young winner a standing ovation as he exited the field.
The Tigers took a 7-0 lead into the seventh inning on Wednesday before the bullpen, mostly Finnegan and Drew Anderson, surrendered seven runs in the seventh and eighth to let the Orioles tie the game. Baltimore took a two-run lead in the top of the 11th, the Tigers tied it on a Spencer Torkelson homer in the bottom half, then the O’s took the lead for good in the top of the 12th.
The gut-wrenching loss drops the Tigers to 51-58 and four games behind the third wild-card spot with five teams ahead of them, including the Orioles. They are 5 ½ games behind the AL Central-leading Chicago White Sox. The Tigers are 29-20 since June 1, but a 22-38 start to the season pushed them too far down the standings.
Because of that, Skubal is a trade candidate prior to Monday’s 6 p.m. ET trade deadline, and it’s fair to say a trade would not be a surprise at this point. Skubal will be a free agent after the season and it is considered unlikely that the Tigers, who ran some of the highest payrolls in baseball in the mid-2010s but no longer, will re-sign him. In that case, a trade must be considered.
Skubal made history early in his start on Wednesday. He entered the game with 999 career strikeouts and fanned Taylor Ward, the game’s first hitter, to join the 1,000-strikeout club. Skubal got there in 857 career innings, far and away the fewest in Tigers history. The previous franchise record holder, Max Scherzer, recorded his 1,000th strikeout in 944 ⅔ innings.
Only four left-handed pitchers have reached 1,000 career strikeouts in fewer innings than Skubal:
- Aroldis Chapman: 602 ⅓
- Billy Wagner: 757 ⅔
- Robbie Ray: 810
- Blake Snell: 820 ⅔
- Tarik Skubal: 857
“I want to live in the moment,” Skubal said after the game. “There’s a lot of stuff going on around me. When the fans get on their feet like that (after the strikeout), it’s special. Something I’ve always appreciated. Hopefully, they feel I’ve given everything to the team, the city. I’ll never forget this for sure.”
Skubal, 29, had a loose body removed from his elbow via the new NanoScope procedure on May 6. Loose body surgery typically comes with a 2-3 month rehab, but the NanoScope shortened the rehab and Skubal was able to return on June 13. He has a 3.23 ERA in nine starts since returning and a 2.57 ERA on the season.
From 2024-25, Skubal ranked second among all qualified pitchers with a 2.30 ERA and third with a 31.2% strikeout rate. His 12.6 WAR was tops in baseball, well ahead of runner-up Cristopher Sánchez (11.1 WAR).
Because of two scheduled off-days, Skubal’s next start for the Tigers lines up for next Wednesday, Aug. 5. That is two days after the trade deadline.
