Skubal hits the gas, but Tigers drop sixth straight

DETROIT -- Max Scherzer’s eyes -- both the blue one and the brown one -- lit up Saturday afternoon when he was told about Tarik Skubal’s recent penchant for throwing triple-digit fastballs at the end of his outings. Scherzer has long believed that his last 15 pitches of an outing should be his best of the day, so hearing about Skubal’s push this year to leave nothing in the tank at the end of his starts was music to Scherzer’s ears.

Hours later, as Skubal worked his way through the heart of the Blue Jays' order in the sixth inning, he gave Scherzer a demonstration as the former Tiger and three-time Cy Young Award-winner watched from the visiting dugout. Skubal reared back for 100-plus mph fastballs five times in a 35-pitch marathon of an inning, including twice in a 13-pitch at-bat against Bo Bichette that ended in a walk.

Skubal’s 96th and final pitch of the night was a 100.5 mph sinker that froze Addison Barger for a called third strike. With the bases left loaded, Skubal -- who returned from the paternity list with his wife still expecting their second child -- let out a primal scream as he bounded off the mound and headed for the Tigers' dugout, where he received a hug from manager A.J. Hinch.

“There was nothing more [in the tank] after that,” Skubal said. “It's the heart of their lineup. Those are the guys that do a ton of damage. I probably didn't do the best job of getting myself into some count leverage, and execution with two strikes got a little iffy later in the game. If I'm going to get beat, I want to get beat with my best stuff, and that's my best stuff when I'm throwing that hard.”

Skubal will not talk about pacing himself through an outing, as Scherzer calls it. Skubal doesn’t want to leave a game carrying regret over a pitch in the early innings that he could’ve put more behind. But the deeper he gets into this season, the more frequently his most formidable pitches show up at the end, often in the biggest situations, from the 102.6 mph fastball to complete his shutout of the Guardians in May to big pitches like Saturday.

“I think it's just the competitor in him when he wants to get that punchout,” said Jake Rogers, Skubal’s starting catcher for the first time since May 20 and the 56th time in his career. “He amped up a little bit on the Bichette at-bat, throwing 99-100. It's the competitor in you.

“I think it's him maturing. I think it's, 'Hey, my stuff's good enough where I don't have to rear back and throw 100 every time.' And as he gets late in the game, I think that adrenaline, that competitiveness that he has and we all see comes out, and he's like, 'Man, let's amp it up a few times.'”

Skubal won the battle in that sixth inning, but the Blue Jays and their tenacious lineup ultimately won the game. Kevin Gausman matched Skubal for scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk against 10 strikeouts. Toronto pounced on Detroit’s bullpen for a Bichette two-run single off Will Vest in the eighth before three ninth-inning homers off Chase Lee put the game away in a 6-1 Tigers loss. Detroit’s sixth consecutive loss was its 12th in 13 games, whittling their lead in the AL Central to seven games over Cleveland.

“I don’t think Skubal is used to this type of offense, honestly,” Gausman said. “He still struck out a good amount of guys. I feel like he had everybody with two strikes, but Bo had an unbelievable at-bat, and you have to give him credit. Everybody had a good approach against him, but his stuff is just incredible.”

But like his fastball, Skubal believes there’s a finishing kick left for this team at the end of this season.

“I think when a team's going through adversity, you're going to see what the team's made of,” Skubal said. “You're going to see who you're going to go back-to-back with on the field. And obviously, we're going through some adversity right now. It's just going to make us a better team, a tougher team, a tougher out coming down the stretch of the season. And that's exciting.

“In failure, there's a ton to learn from, and a ton of success to happen on the other side of it. I don't think anyone in here is afraid of failure, either. It's just part of the game. We have to keep stacking good days of work. I like our odds against anybody.”