Tarik Skubal is turning in one of the most dominating postseason performances by a Detroit Tigers pitcher.
The left-hander struck out eight Guardians over seven innings on Monday in Cleveland in Game 2 of the ALDS. That followed a wild-card series Game 1 start in which he struck out six Astros in Houston over six innings.
Those 14 strikeouts tied him for third in franchise history for whiffs by a Tiger in his first two postseason starts combined, with right-hander Joe Coleman in the 1972 ALCS against Oakland, though Coleman appeared in just one game.
Ahead of them is right-hander Bill Donovan, who had 16 strikeouts in his first two appearances of the 1907 World Series against the Chicago Cubs. Donovan allowed nine runs — three earned — over 21 innings, including a 12-inning start in a Game 1 3-3 tie (called for darkness in Chicago).
Holding the top spot is left-hander Mickey Lolich — another No. 29 — with 17 strikeouts in his first two starts of he 1968 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals. The big lefty gave up four runs, all earned, over 18 innings. Lolich, of course, is most famous for his third start of that series, in which he outdueled St. Louis ace Bob Gibson and allowed one run over nine innings for his third complete game of the Series, as the Tigers rallied from a 3-1 deficit to take the crown.
All things Tigers: Latest Detroit Tigers news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates and more.
Monday’s performance featured a “game score” (a metric devised by sabermetrics godfather Bill James 40 years ago) of 79 by Skubal, good for a tie for 12th all-time among Tigers pitchers (with two Justin Verlander starts in the 2013 playoffs). Unfortunately for Skubal (who had some fun with the Cleveland crowd Monday), the Tigers were similarly mesmerized by Guardians lefty Matthew Boyd and the Cleveland bullpen, and he left with a no-decision (thanks to a controversial two-out call in the top of the eighth inning).
Verlander owns the top two Game Scores, with an 89 for his 2012 ALDS Game 5 start in which he allowed four hits and one walk with 11 strikeouts in a complete-game shutout, and an 87 for his eight-inning start in Game 5 of the 2013 ALDS, with two hits allowed, one walk and 10 strikeouts. Both starts came on the road against Oakland.
After that, the list jumps back 90 years, to Schoolboy Rowe’s 1934 World Series Game 2 start against the St. Louis Cardinals, in which the Arkansas native (full name: Lynwood Thomas Rowe) scatted seven hits and struck out seven while allowing two runs in a 12-inning complete game.
