#tarik-skubal

#tarik-skubal

CLEVELAND -- Tarik Skubal tied a franchise postseason record with 14 strikeouts and the Detroit Tigers defeated the Cleveland Guardians 2-1 on Tuesday in Game 1 of their AL Wild Card Series. Will Vest recorded the final four outs for Detroit, surviving a tense ninth inning after Cleveland star Jose Ramirez got hung up between third base and home for the second out.

The Guardians have won six games in a row and 11 of their past 12 to storm back into the conversation for a spot in the postseason. That includes taking the first two games of a three-game set against their division rival in Detroit, but now if they're going to complete the sweep and extend their winning streak they'll need to take down the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner.

Yes, the reigning American League Cy Young winner delivered another dominant performance, but don't forget about second baseman Gleyber Torres, who drove the Tigers to their 6-0 win over the Chicago White Sox on Saturday, Sept. 6, in the second of three games in the series at Comerica Park. Torres hit a three-run home run in a five-run fourth inning.

Skubal seems all but guaranteed to win his second straight AL Cy Young Award. For good reason, too. Through Monday, the lefty was 12-4 with an AL-best 2.18 ERA and 11.2 K/9 ratio, and an MLB-best 216 strikeouts. He also led all AL pitchers with a 6.2 bWAR and his 0.87 WHIP was the best in the bigs. These numbers are also why he's in the running for a second straight pitching Triple Crown (leading in wins, ERA and strikeouts), and why he did so well in this vote.

Jeff Passan: Under 61, but not by much. The Seattle Mariners have 31 games remaining. Raleigh has had two distinct 31-game spans this year in which he has hit at least a dozen home runs -- the number he needs to get to 61 -- so it's possible. Now that he has passed Salvador Perez for the most in a season by a catcher, Raleigh can target the Mariners' franchise record of 56 set by Ken Griffey Jr. in 1997.

Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Tarik Skubal of the Detroit Tigers were named All-Star Game starters, representing the National League and American League respectively.