Tarik Skubal smothers Rays as Tigers continue on their way to the playoffs

Detroit — It's not that Tarik Skubal is in favor of our children skipping school. Honestly. But if you have the choice between school and Skubal, then go for it.

“Let's have them skip school again on Thursday,” Skubal said, referring to the large group of students and teachers who attended the suddenly scheduled matinee at Comerica Park on Tuesday. “I think that's a great way to stay out of school. I mean, I'm not going to be an advocate for not going to school.”

“So, go to school tomorrow and come back on Thursday.”

By having his fans hold up signs that read “The Skub Season” with a big “K” on the back, Skubal not only rewarded their attendance on a rainy and foggy day, but also potentially put to rest any remaining questions – if there were any – about his Cy Young candidacy.

“He put his heart and soul into pitching, man,” manager AJ Hinch said after the Tigers earned a crucial 2-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. “He gave it his all on the field… It felt like we put the whole team on his shoulders.”

He has broad shoulders and seems to appreciate the weight. Skubal went through the Rays' batting order two and a half times on Tuesday. He allowed two singles and a walk and did not allow a runner to get into scoring position in seven innings.

He managed seven strikeouts. He managed 18 mishits on 56 pitches, 15 of which were counted as strikes, and the 15 balls put in play against him had a modest average exit velocity of 81 mph.

In other words, he was dominant. And the win keeps the Tigers (83-74) ahead of the Twins in the battle for the final wild-card spot, regardless of the outcome of the Twins game on Tuesday night.

“It's a lot of fun,” said Skubal. “That's why you play the game, to play in these moments and in front of the fans. Despite the time difference, they came and were loud from the first pitch. It's a lot of fun and it's nice that we now have our destiny in our own hands, so to speak.”

▶ RESULT: Tigers 2, Rays 1

▶ MLB TABLES

The game was moved up to 1:10 p.m. to avoid storms forecast for later, and was delayed 49 minutes. The crowd was reported at 22,770, but the time difference and weather kept some of those ticket holders away. But the crowd was loud and proud, giving Skubal a huge round of applause after he ended his day with a strikeout of Christopher Morel to end the seventh inning.

He immediately applauded them back.

“Always,” he said in response. “I'm thankful for the fans here. They've always welcomed me since the day I came here. To be able to play in front of them this late in the season and give them a reason to cheer is why you play.”

Skubal was in full control even without his most electrifying fastball. The average velocity of his four-seam and two-seam fastballs had dropped by nearly 1 mph, but began to climb as conditioning dropped.

“It was a little wet, a little humid and foggy,” he said. “And I was sweating a lot. When you put those things together, sometimes it's hard to grip the ball. As the weather let up, my stuff got crisper and I was able to grip the ball better.”

Catcher Jake Rogers once again played the throws like a master and steadfastly kept the balls away from the Rays' bats.

“He doesn't get outs because of his speed,” Hinch said. “That's obviously part of the equation. But he gets outs because he dominates the strike zone and attacks hitters. He can use a lot of different pitches… He can do a lot of different things and part of his development has been adapting to a game plan and doing different things.”

Skubal's slider was effective and the changeup, which he had struggled with a bit in his last two starts, was back on point.

“Yeah, I executed it a lot better today,” Skubal said of his change. “I don't think I executed it very well in my last two starts. Today went better for me. I was in the zone and out of the zone when I needed to be.”

In addition to the seven strikeouts, he caused eight ground ball outs.

“They may have put the ball in play a little more than normal or more than I expected, but other than that, he was pretty good,” Rogers said. “It's fun to catch. The (Rays) guys are good over there, too, and to hold them to two hits is pretty impressive. That's impressive against any big-league team, and to give us seven strong innings — that's Skub-like.”

The seven zeros lower his American League-best ERA to 2.39. It was also his league-best 18th win as a pitcher, the most by a Tiger since Max Scherzer had 18 wins in 2014. It was his 22nd quality start, which is tied for second-most in baseball. The Tigers are 21-10 in his 31 starts.

“He was unbelievable,” Hinch said. “It was a really tough day for pitching, with the change in start time, the fog at the beginning, the whole warm-up, and just the importance of the day. He got better as the game went on and that was really encouraging.”

“He is our man and that was a great achievement.”

Unless the Tigers have already secured a place in the playoffs by then, Skubal is scheduled to make his final appearance in the regular season on Sunday in the season finale against the White Sox.

“We have to get there,” said Skubal. “We haven't won or done anything like that yet. We have to get there. I'm thinking about Sunday. We have to keep winning.”

Beau Brieske finished the final two innings, getting five outs in a row before Brandon Lowe hit a two-out home run in the ninth inning.

The offense came with a decisive blow. Rookie Wenceel Perez won a nine-pitch at-bat against Rays starter Ryan Pepiot in the fifth inning with the bases loaded and two outs, hitting a two-run ground-rule double over the short wall in right field.

“I saw him pretty well today,” said Perez, who may have been the only Tigers hitter to do so. “I saw all of his pitches pretty well and was in rhythm with the pitches he was throwing to me. That was great. I was in the fight the whole time.”

Perez walked 11 pitches in the first inning. He walked six pitches in the fourth and was left standing on third base when Pepiot took both Colt Keith and Spencer Torkelson out of the game.

The game was still scoreless in the fifth inning. Pepiot had just gotten Kerry Carpenter to pitch for the second out and looked ready to get out of another jam after putting Perez ahead 0-2. But Perez kept fighting and extended his at-bat. He got back to 3-2, fouled off two cutters in a row and hit another cutter into right field on the ninth pitch of the at-bat.

“I knew he was trying to block me with something,” Perez said. “I was ready to catch it up front.”

That was all the offensive power the Tigers could or needed.

Hinch was then asked again about the significance of the moment. The Tigers, who were given up at the trade deadline, have the best record in baseball (28-11) since Aug. 11 and maintain a playoff spot with five games remaining.

Tarik Skubal smothers Rays as Tigers continue on their way to the playoffs

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