Detroit is a wagon, and its pitchers are rolling with the punches
The Detroit Tigers are continuing their winning ways, slamming the door on the chance of a rubber match with the San Francisco Giants. They won the second game of the series 3-1 on Tuesday night.
In the past three games, Detroit pitchers have allowed two runs. A few suffocating performances by Tarik Skubal, Keider Montero, and Jack Flaherty shut down two good teams. The Guardians (29-25) failed to score on Sunday, and Skubal had his way.
The AL Central’s premier rivalry is brewing, as Cleveland went into Detroit and embarrassed the Tigers. The Guardians outscored Detroit 17-6 in the first three games of the four-game weekend series. Skubal strided to the mound on Sunday to make sure a sweep was avoided.
94 pitches later, Skubal had his first career “Maddux.”
The reigning AL Cy Young award winner went the full nine innings – a first for him– and didn’t allow a run. The Maddux term is a nod at the Baseball Hall of Famer Greg Maddux, who would hurl the very efficient gems in his career, famously for the Atlanta Braves in the 90s.
Skubal notched 13 strikeouts, the most in any start to be dubbed a “Maddux,” which is fully comprised of a complete game shutout with under 100 pitches thrown.
Walking with a pep in his step around the mound after the first punch-out, Skubal channeled his inner Ric Flair. The Comerica Park team usually plays audio of a “Wooo” after every swing-and-miss strikeout. The “Nature Boy” was considered the best in the wrestling business for decades, and watching a Skubal start can seem like a replica.
Fast forward to the final out of the game on Sunday. Guardians’ shortstop Gabriel Arias was the small kid on the playground about to get a black eye.
Skubal threw a sinker at the top of the zone at 99 mph. Arias whiffed. Skubal went high and off-speed on the next, and Arias missed again. The Tiger faithful were already on their feet when Skubal darted a 102.6 mph fastball past the swinging Arias. Skubal stopped and took in the moment.
“Woo!”
The 102.6 mph haymaker of a pitch is the fastest by a starting pitcher since MLB started using Pitch Tracking in 2008.
Skubal is 5-2 with a 2.49 ERA and an absurd 13.14 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Montero is not a stranger in the Tigers’ clubhouse. Heck, he also pitched a Maddux back on Sept. 10. He started 2025 in Toledo with the minor league Mud Hens, but he seemed to have dibs on filling a rotation spot when an inevitable injury happened in Detroit.
Starter Reese Olson has been on the injured list with finger inflammation, and Montero got another chance to prove his worth.
The Tigers started their series against San Francisco on Memorial Day. Montero let up a walk and a hit to Jung Hoo Lee, then got the second out with a groundout by Wilmer Flores.
Will Adames had the chance to put up the game’s first score, but Montero slung a 2-2 slider on the outside corner to get the called third strike.
Montero might have let the umpire decide in the first. He took matters into his own hands in the third.
Giants outfielder Luis Matos sent a chopper Montero’s way, and Montero made an agile move like a goaltender to gather the ball between his legs while still in his follow-through stance. Matos was thrown out at first base by three steps.
That hit in the first inning by Lee was the only one Montero surrendered in five innings of work.
The 24-year-old moved to 2-1 on the year.
Giving up home runs has been a theme for Flaherty in 2025. His fastball has a -5 Run Value according to Baseball Savant. San Francisco had to have been analyzing some advanced statistics to gain an edge.
Flaherty had luck on his side, however. Must be some of the Irish in him.
After giving up a leadoff single to Mike Yastrzemski in the first inning on Tuesday, Heliot Ramos has the green light to swing away at Flaherty’s four-seamer.
Flaherty blew Ramos away with a 2-2 fastball up in the zone.
What came next was almost expected. Wilmer Flores dug into the batter’s box and worked a full count. Flaherty tested Flores with the fastball down and in, but Flores squared it up and drove it toward the right field wall.
If Riley Greene and his glove weren’t waiting for the ball just in front of the yellow line, it would have been Flaherty’s 12th home run surrendered.
Home Plate Umpire Tony Randazzo sprinkled in some charm in Flaherty’s first inning, too. After Flaherty hit the left-handed Lee with a pitch that barely grazed the top of his left foot, Matt Chapman wasted the runner on second.
Flaherty dealt a 95 mph heater with a 1-2 count that touched the outside edge. Randazzo hit the punch-out motion with a small kick of the leg, and Flaherty did a double-take toward the dugout. He knew he received a gift with that call.
The fifth inning came around, the Tigers had a 3-0 lead, and Flaherty tossed another four-seamer that Randazzo would call strike three. This one to Patrick Bailey was farther out of the zone. Bailey had sent his bat gliding across the grass toward the dugout after the 3-2 pitch. Instead of heading Spencer Torkelson’s way at first base, he was heading toward the visitors’ bench.
Flaherty had some tricks in his pot of gold. He next punched out Tyler Fitzgerald on a knuckle curve – maybe his most effective pitch in the arsenal. On the last out in the sixth, he used the curve to mow down Flores. Flaherty was pumped.
The Tigers close the series Wednesday at 1:10 p.m. with former third overall pick Jackson Jobe on the mound. The 22-year-old rookie has a 4-1 record. It looks to be more frustration in the years to come for Detroit’s opponents.
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