Tigers manager A.J. Hinch left 'in awe' after Tarik Skubal's masterpiece shuts down Guardians

On Sunday, Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal stepped to the mound for his scheduled start against the Cleveland Guardians. With how some of Cleveland's sluggers have started the season at the plate, he had to lock in.

Skubal did just that, keeping Cleveland's batters on their toes. He went nine full innings, giving up zero runs on two hits while striking out 13 and helping Detroit win 5-0.

This was Skubal's first complete game, and he did it on just 94 pitches. His manager, A.J. Hinch, who has been around professional baseball since 1998, was more than impressed by the outing.

"I don't think I've ever seen a more efficient, more dominant outing than what I saw on Sunday with Tarik Skubal," said Hinch.

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It is not like Skubal was pitching against a bad team. Cleveland has multiple great sluggers across their lineup, with Jose Ramirez and Steven Kwan both batting above .300.

"My hat's off to him because it's hard to describe his day without sort of taking a pause and just being in awe" he added.

Ramirez would be one of the sluggers that was able to get a base knock off Skubal, alongside Will Wilson. Outside of that, it was nothing but pure dominance from Skubal on the bump.

Tarik Skubal's dominance helps the Tigers avoid a four-game losing streak

Detroit Free Press - Tarik Skubal (Photo via IMAGN)

Going into Sunday's matchup with the Guardians, the Tigers were on a three-game losing streak. Cleveland got the better of Detroit in the first three games of the series, and it was all on Tarik Skubal to avoid the sweep.

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Skubal showed up on Sunday with his best stuff, putting his team in a position to win. However, he did have a little help from his offense after they had a big fourth inning.

Zach McKinstry hit a two-run home run to get the scoring started. That was followed up by a Gleyber Torres RBI double, an Andy Ibanez RBI single, and then a throwing error resulting in the five runs.

They were able to put away the Guardians 5-0 and kept the momentum up for their Monday matcup with the San Francisco Giants. In the first of their three-game series against San Francisco, they came out on top by a score of 3-1.

The Tigers will look to maintain this pace before a big divisional matchup later this week against the Kansas City Royals. The two teams meet for a three-game series over the weekend.

About the author

Jared "Bloomy" Bloom is a journalist covering Major League Baseball at Sportskeeda and a former college baseball pitcher from Illinois, who just graduated with a Master's degree in Sport Psychology.

A writer with over 3 years of experience, Jared is consistently more concerned with quality than quantity, thoroughly checking multiple sources of information, and prides himself in being knowledgeable not just about MLB, but the game of baseball in general. He loves breaking down plays and game-changing moments, as well as looking closer into players' statistics.

Jared is a die-hard Chicago White Sox fan, and one of his earliest memories is seeing his great-grandfather, a huge Sox fan, in his rocking chair watching a game. Jared started playing from the age of 5 with his grandfather coaching him early on.

Jared loved Tim Lincecum for his quirky delivery and looked up to him as a role model when playing. His current favorite is Phillies star Bryce Harper, an exciting player who doesn't let injuries hold him back. Jared's favorite sports moment is Mark Buehrle's opening day between-the-legs glove flip to first base in 2010.

When he is not watching or writing about baseball, Jared can be found racing BMX at his local Rockford BMX track or coaching his local youth travel baseball team.

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Edited by Jared "Bloomy" Bloom