After the Detroit Tigers fell apart and lost their lead in the AL Central, they were assigned a matchup against the team that stole the title away from them, the Cleveland Guardians.
In Game 1 of the Wild Card series, Tarik Skubal went against Gavin Williams. The game resulted in a dominant duel between the two.
The Tigers' ace did not disappoint in the game. Just when fans thought they had seen it all from the 2024 Cy Young Award winner, he one-upped himself in the start.
Tarik Skubal tallies career high in strikeouts in Game 1 win
The Detroit Tigers were able to come up with the win on the road despite a scary situation in the final inning, and it was another impressive performance from starter Tarik Skubal.
Skubal, 28, went 7.2 innings on 107 pitches in the game, giving up three hits, one earned run, and a career high 14 strikeouts in the 2-1 win.
CAREER-HIGH 14 STRIKEOUTS FOR TARIK SKUBAL. pic.twitter.com/oxbkVyOrOd
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) September 30, 2025
Detroit was also able to fight off the Guardians' Gavin Williams, while he was also impressive in the matchup. Through 6.0 innings on 88 pitches, he gave up five hits, zero earned runs, and struck out eight.
Luckily, Spencer Torkelson's first-inning RBI single and Zach McKinstry's sacrifice bunt in the seventh were enough to hold off Cleveland and steal the first game of the series.
Game 2 between the Tigers and Guardians is set for Wednesday, with RHP Casey Mize getting the start for Detroit as he goes against RHP Tanner Bibee.
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