Tarik Skubal surpasses future Hall of Famer in Detroit Tigers team history

The Detroit Tigers were able to defeat the Tampa Bay Rays at Comerica Park on Tuesday afternoon. The game had been postponed until the afternoon due to the threat of rain.

The 2-1 win was huge for Detroit as it brought their season record to 83-74 and clinched the second wild card spot in the American League playoff round. They are now 0.5 games ahead of the Kansas City Royals, 1.0 games ahead of the Minnesota Twins and 2.0 games ahead of the Seattle Mariners. Each of those teams has one game left on Tuesday.

As he has all year, Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal dominated on the mound. The presumed favorite for the American League Cy Young Award threw 7.0 scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and one walk. He struck out seven players and went 18-4 on the season.

According to Chris Brown of TigersMLReport, he also has a historic ERA of 2.39:

Lowest ERA of a Detroit Tigers starting pitcher in the integration era (at least 150 IP)

Denny McLain – 1.96 (1969)
Mark Fidrych – 2.34 (1976)
Tarik Skubal – 2.39 (2024)
Justin Verlander – 2.40 (2011)
Mickey Lolich – 2.50 (1972)

Any time you can overtake Verlander on a list in team history, you’ve done something right.

Verlander won 183 games in 13 seasons with the Tigers, helping them to the World Series in 2006 and 2012. He was also selected to the All-Star team six times with Detroit and won a Cy Young Award in 2011.

On Wednesday the Tigers will face the Rays again.

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