Tarik Skubal may have just authored his final chapter in a Tigers uniform, and if that was the case, he gave Detroit plenty to remember.
The left-hander worked 6 ⅔ innings against the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday afternoon at Comerica Park, allowing three runs on four singles and a walk while striking out six in a game the Tigers eventually lost 10-9 in 12 innings. His outing was blemished when Kyle Finnegan let two inherited runners score, but Skubal still left to a standing ovation after A.J. Hinch pulled him at 92 pitches following an RBI single by Leody Taveras in the seventh that brought home Baltimore’s first run.
Before the bullpen unraveled, Detroit had built a 7-0 lead through six innings. Then came the collapse: seven runs surrendered by the bullpen, mostly by Finnegan and Drew Anderson, in the seventh and eighth to let the Orioles draw even. Baltimore grabbed a two-run edge in the 11th, Spencer Torkelson answered with a homer in the bottom half to tie it again, and the Orioles finally broke through for good in the 12th.
The loss left the Tigers at 51-58, four games back of the third wild-card spot with five teams ahead of them, including Baltimore. They’re also 5 ½ games behind the AL Central-leading Chicago White Sox. Detroit has played better lately, going 29-20 since June 1, but a 22-38 start has left too much ground to make up.
That’s why Skubal’s name sits squarely in the trade conversation before Monday’s 6 p.m. ET deadline.
He’s headed for free agency after the season, and it’s considered unlikely the Tigers will re-sign him. In that setting, a deal would not come as a shock.
Wednesday also brought a milestone for Skubal. He came into the game with 999 career strikeouts and punched out Taylor Ward, the first batter he faced, to reach 1,000.
He did it in 857 career innings, the fewest in Tigers history. The previous club mark belonged to Max Scherzer, who got to 1,000 strikeouts in 944 ⅔ innings.
Only four left-handed pitchers have reached the 1,000-strikeout mark in fewer innings than Skubal.
"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 through the new NanoScope procedure on May 6. That operation usually carries a 2-3 month rehab, but the NanoScope shortened the timeline enough for him to return on June 13. Since then, he has posted a 3.23 ERA in nine starts, and his season ERA sits at 2.57.
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 led all of baseball, ahead of Cristopher Sánchez’s 11.1 WAR.
Because of two scheduled off-days, Skubal’s next turn would line up for next Wednesday, Aug. 5, which falls two days after the trade deadline.
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