Latest news with #Skubal
NBC Sports
2 days ago
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Detroit's Tarik Skubal making a bid for a Cy Young repeat. He'd be the first in AL to do that since 2000
It's been a quarter century since an American League pitcher won back-to-back Cy Young Awards. It takes a pretty special pitcher to pull that off — but Tarik Skubal fits the bill. Skubal showed why he's the favorite to win the Cy Young for a second straight year, striking out 11 with no walks Sunday night in Detroit's 2-1 victory over Texas. If the Cy Young indeed goes to him, he'll be the first AL pitcher to earn it in back-to-back seasons since Pedro Martinez's remarkable stretch with the Red Sox in 1999 and 2000. Roger Clemens won consecutive Cy Youngs on two different occasions (1986-87 and 1997-98), and Jim Palmer did it in 1975 and '76. Those are the only AL pitchers besides Martinez to pull that off. It's been a bit more common in the National League: Greg Maddux (1992-95) and Randy Johnson (1999-2002) both won four straight, and Tim Lincecum (2008-09), Clayton Kershaw (2013-14), Max Scherzer (2016-17) and Jacob deGrom (2018-19) are in the two-in-a-row club. National Leaguer Sandy Koufax won the Cy Young in 1965 and 1966, back when there was only one award for both leagues. The win Sunday snapped a six-game losing streak for the Tigers, who still have baseball's best record and an 11-game lead in the AL Central. Not only has Detroit struggled to win games lately, but the All-Star game didn't go great either, with Skubal giving up two runs in the first inning and Tigers teammate Casey Mize allowing a homer in the sixth. Skubal, however, pitched well enough on Sunday to take over the AL lead in ERA. He's at 2.1854, while Boston's Garrett Crochet is at 2.1946. Trivia time In 1988, a Minnesota left-hander won the ERA title by an unusually slim margin, finishing at 2.4465, while Milwaukee's Teddy Higuera was second at 2.4545. Who was that Twins pitcher? Double repeat? Not only does Skubal have a shot at winning two straight Cy Young Awards, but last year's AL MVP — Aaron Judge — has a good chance to repeat as well. Only three times has a league had back-to-back winners of both its MVP and Cy Young — and all three times it happened in the NL. Albert Pujols was MVP and Lincecum won the Cy Young in 2008 and 2009. Barry Bonds was MVP in 2001 and 2002 while Johnson was winning the Cy Young — and Bonds was also MVP in 1992 and 1993 while Maddux was taking Cy Young honors. Line of the week Miami's Kyle Stowers, who hit three homers last Sunday in the final game before the All-Star break, added two more in the Marlins' first game back Friday night. One of those was a two-run walk-off shot that gave Miami an 8-7 win over Kansas City. Honorable mention: Minnesota's Joe Ryan allowed one run in seven innings and struck out 11 in a 7-1 win over Colorado on Sunday. The All-Star right-hander lowered his ERA to 2.63. Comeback of the week The New York Yankees rallied from a 7-2 sixth-inning deficit to beat Atlanta 12-9 on Saturday night. Trent Grisham hit a tiebreaking grand slam with two outs in the top of the ninth. Before that, the Yankees scored four runs in the sixth and got solo homers from Cody Bellinger and Anthony Volpe in the seventh and eighth. Atlanta's win probability peaked at 96.1% in the fifth, according to Baseball Savant. Trivia answer No, it wasn't Frank Viola, the Minnesota lefty who went 24-7 and won the Cy Young that year. The left-hander on the Twins who edged Higuera for the ERA title was Allan Anderson.
Winnipeg Free Press
2 days ago
- Sport
- Winnipeg Free Press
Detroit's Skubal making a bid for a Cy Young repeat. He'd be the first in AL to do that since 2000
It's been a quarter century since an American League pitcher won back-to-back Cy Young Awards. It takes a pretty special pitcher to pull that off — but Tarik Skubal fits the bill. Skubal showed why he's the favorite to win the Cy Young for a second straight year, striking out 11 with no walks Sunday night in Detroit's 2-1 victory over Texas. If the Cy Young indeed goes to him, he'll be the first AL pitcher to earn it in back-to-back seasons since Pedro Martinez's remarkable stretch with the Red Sox in 1999 and 2000. Roger Clemens won consecutive Cy Youngs on two different occasions (1986-87 and 1997-98), and Jim Palmer did it in 1975 and '76. Those are the only AL pitchers besides Martinez to pull that off. It's been a bit more common in the National League: Greg Maddux (1992-95) and Randy Johnson (1999-2002) both won four straight, and Tim Lincecum (2008-09), Clayton Kershaw (2013-14), Max Scherzer (2016-17) and Jacob deGrom (2018-19) are in the two-in-a-row club. National Leaguer Sandy Koufax won the Cy Young in 1965 and 1966, back when there was only one award for both leagues. The win Sunday snapped a six-game losing streak for the Tigers, who still have baseball's best record and an 11-game lead in the AL Central. Not only has Detroit struggled to win games lately, but the All-Star game didn't go great either, with Skubal giving up two runs in the first inning and Tigers teammate Casey Mize allowing a homer in the sixth. Skubal, however, pitched well enough on Sunday to take over the AL lead in ERA. He's at 2.1854, while Boston's Garrett Crochet is at 2.1946. Trivia time In 1988, a Minnesota left-hander won the ERA title by an unusually slim margin, finishing at 2.4465, while Milwaukee's Teddy Higuera was second at 2.4545. Who was that Twins pitcher? Double repeat? Not only does Skubal have a shot at winning two straight Cy Young Awards, but last year's AL MVP — Aaron Judge — has a good chance to repeat as well. Only three times has a league had back-to-back winners of both its MVP and Cy Young — and all three times it happened in the NL. Albert Pujols was MVP and Lincecum won the Cy Young in 2008 and 2009. Barry Bonds was MVP in 2001 and 2002 while Johnson was winning the Cy Young — and Bonds was also MVP in 1992 and 1993 while Maddux was taking Cy Young honors. Line of the week Miami's Kyle Stowers, who hit three homers last Sunday in the final game before the All-Star break, added two more in the Marlins' first game back Friday night. One of those was a two-run walk-off shot that gave Miami an 8-7 win over Kansas City. Honorable mention: Minnesota's Joe Ryan allowed one run in seven innings and struck out 11 in a 7-1 win over Colorado on Sunday. The All-Star right-hander lowered his ERA to 2.63. Comeback of the week Thursdays Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter. The New York Yankees rallied from a 7-2 sixth-inning deficit to beat Atlanta 12-9 on Saturday night. Trent Grisham hit a tiebreaking grand slam with two outs in the top of the ninth. Before that, the Yankees scored four runs in the sixth and got solo homers from Cody Bellinger and Anthony Volpe in the seventh and eighth. Atlanta's win probability peaked at 96.1% in the fifth, according to Baseball Savant. Trivia answer No, it wasn't Frank Viola, the Minnesota lefty who went 24-7 and won the Cy Young that year. The left-hander on the Twins who edged Higuera for the ERA title was Allan Anderson. ___ AP MLB:
Toronto Star
2 days ago
- Sport
- Toronto Star
Majors-best Tigers end 6-game skid with All-Star Tarik Skubal's strong start
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — It was naturally a superb start by Tarik Skubal that resulted in a 2-1 Detroit Tigers win over the Texas Rangers on Sunday night that ended a season-worst six-game losing streak for the team with the best record in the major leagues. However, Skubal didn't get credit for the victory. The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner and starter in Tuesday's All-Star Game cruised into the seventh inning with a two-hit shutout and a tenuous 1-0 lead. He left with runners at the corners and two outs, and the Rangers' Adolis García scored on a wild pitch by Tyler Holton.
Hamilton Spectator
2 days ago
- Sport
- Hamilton Spectator
Majors-best Tigers end 6-game skid with All-Star Tarik Skubal's strong start
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — It was naturally a superb start by Tarik Skubal that resulted in a 2-1 Detroit Tigers win over the Texas Rangers on Sunday night that ended a season-worst six-game losing streak for the team with the best record in the major leagues. However, Skubal didn't get credit for the victory. The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner and starter in Tuesday's All-Star Game cruised into the seventh inning with a two-hit shutout and a tenuous 1-0 lead. He left with runners at the corners and two outs, and the Rangers' Adolis García scored on a wild pitch by Tyler Holton. But Detroit's Matt Vierling hit a tiebreaking single with two outs in the eighth inning, and Will Vest entered in the eighth and got four straight outs — against the top four batters in Texas' order — for his 16th save for the Tigers (60-40). Skubal left the park still with 10 wins (one shy of the AL lead), 164 strikeouts (one behind Boston's Garrett Crochet) and a 2.19 ERA (tied with Crochet for the best in the American League). 'We're the first to 60, right? That matters more (than his personal stats),' Skubal said. 'We just haven't particularly been playing our best baseball, I don't think, for the last couple weeks. That's just part of the season. Not from lack of effort or anything like that. But I knew I wanted to win today. I expect every time I go out there to put our team in position to win, and we were able to do that.' Skubal struck out 11 and walked none in his seventh double-digit strikeout game this season. His final batter was a strikeout of Jonah Heim that left him at 105 pitches, three short of his career high. Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said Skubal 'emptied his tank' on the Heim at-bat and made the pitching change to avoid overworking him. 'If we're going anywhere (this season), we're going with him,' Hinch said. Two of Texas' four hits off Skubal were by Corey Seager, the lone left-handed hitter in the starting lineup against the lefty Skubal. Seager went 2 for 3 off Skubal, improving to 8 for 12 in his career. Skubal said he asked Seager during last year's All-Star festivities: 'Bro, how do I get you out? Can you tell me?' Seager, Skubal said, politely declined and claimed not to see the ball well when hitting against him. 'When he's right, the stuff he does at the dish, the best in the league,' Skubal said. Skubal is again among the best in baseball on the mound. He did his part in ending what was the majors' longest active losing streak, even without getting a personal W. ___ AP MLB:
San Francisco Chronicle
2 days ago
- Sport
- San Francisco Chronicle
Majors-best Tigers end 6-game skid with All-Star Tarik Skubal's strong start
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — It was naturally a superb start by Tarik Skubal that resulted in a 2-1 Detroit Tigers win over the Texas Rangers on Sunday night that ended a season-worst six-game losing streak for the team with the best record in the major leagues. However, Skubal didn't get credit for the victory. The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner and starter in Tuesday's All-Star Game cruised into the seventh inning with a two-hit shutout and a tenuous 1-0 lead. He left with runners at the corners and two outs, and the Rangers' Adolis García scored on a wild pitch by Tyler Holton. But Detroit's Matt Vierling hit a tiebreaking single with two outs in the eighth inning, and Will Vest entered in the eighth and got four straight outs — against the top four batters in Texas' order — for his 16th save for the Tigers (60-40). Skubal left the park still with 10 wins (one shy of the AL lead), 164 strikeouts (one behind Boston's Garrett Crochet) and a 2.19 ERA (tied with Crochet for the best in the American League). 'We're the first to 60, right? That matters more (than his personal stats),' Skubal said. 'We just haven't particularly been playing our best baseball, I don't think, for the last couple weeks. That's just part of the season. Not from lack of effort or anything like that. But I knew I wanted to win today. I expect every time I go out there to put our team in position to win, and we were able to do that.' Skubal struck out 11 and walked none in his seventh double-digit strikeout game this season. His final batter was a strikeout of Jonah Heim that left him at 105 pitches, three short of his career high. Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said Skubal 'emptied his tank' on the Heim at-bat and made the pitching change to avoid overworking him. 'If we're going anywhere (this season), we're going with him,' Hinch said. Two of Texas' four hits off Skubal were by Corey Seager, the lone left-handed hitter in the starting lineup against the lefty Skubal. Seager went 2 for 3 off Skubal, improving to 8 for 12 in his career. Skubal said he asked Seager during last year's All-Star festivities: 'Bro, how do I get you out? Can you tell me?' Seager, Skubal said, politely declined and claimed not to see the ball well when hitting against him. 'When he's right, the stuff he does at the dish, the best in the league,' Skubal said. Skubal is again among the best in baseball on the mound. He did his part in ending what was the majors' longest active losing streak, even without getting a personal W.
