Detroit Tigers Ace Matches Another MLB Record with Dominant Stretch

This Detroit Tigers left-hander has, once again, done something that few MLB pitchers have ever done after his latest start.

May 2, 2025; Anaheim, California, USA; Detroit Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal (29) throws during the 1st inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium. | Jason Parkhurst-Imagn Images

For Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Tarik Skubal, new Major League records are part of the job, apparently.

Skubal, the left-handed reigning American League Cy Young winner, absorbed a no-decision against the Los Angeles Angels on Friday night, though Riley Greene and the Tigers’ offense set a couple of offensive records in the ninth inning of their 9-1 win over the Angels.

Skubal left the game by that point, but he did so after pitching six innings of four-hit baseball, allowing one earned run and no walks. He also struck out eight.

He’s been hard to deal with this season, but his last five starts have been particularly incredible. In his last five starts, he’s thrown 30 innings with a 0.90 ERA, 38 strikeouts and one walk.

That puts him in some incredible company, according to the Tigers public relations’ social media account.

Tarik Skubal has posted one of the most dominant five-start stretches in @MLB history.

30 IP, 0.90 ERA, 38 K, 1 BB

Only two other pitchers have ever met each of those marks over a five-start span: Zac Gallen (2023) and Corey Kluber (2018). pic.twitter.com/NZvGv0jT4y

— Tigers PR (@DetroitTigersPR) May 3, 2025

Only Zac Gallen in 2023 and Corey Kluber in 2018 have managed that feat. Both finished third in Cy Young voting in their respective leagues at the end of those seasons. Kluber won two American League Cy Youngs in 2014 and 2017.

It’s just the latest milestone he’s reached this season. In his last start against the Baltimore Orioles on April 27, he became the third Tigers pitcher in history to have an outing with zero runs allowed, zero walks, and 11 or more strikeouts.

The other two were Max Scherzer, who did so on June 17, 2012, and Aníbal Sánchez, who did it so on Aug. 3, 2014.

Two weeks before that start, Skubal did something no Tigers pitcher had done in 25 years. Against the Milwaukee Brewers, he became the first Tigers pitcher since 2000 to have an outing of seven or more innings and give up no walks, strike out nine or more batters and throw no more than 91 pitches.

Through seven starts he is 3-2 with a 2.21 ERA. He has 48 strikeouts and five walks in 40.2 innings.

Skubal had an incredible campaign a year ago. He finished the season 18-4 with a 2.39 ERA and 228 strikeouts, winning the AL pitching triple crown and the Cy Young.

He became the fifth Tigers pitcher to win the Cy Young, as he joined Scherzer (2013), Justin Verlander (2011), Willie Hernández (1984) and Denny McLain (1968 and '69).

The way he’s pitching this season he’s setting himself up to do what McLain did back in the late 1960s — win back-to-back AL Cy Young awards.