Tigers' Ace Has a Blunt Answer About Playoff Clinching Scenarios
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Going into their Saturday afternoon game against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, the Detroit Tigers have their postseason fate in their own hands. Win and they're in. Lose and stay up late to see how things unfold between the Houston Astros and Los Angeles Angels beginning shortly after 9:30 p.m. ET.
Detroit would love to take the suspense out of having to stay up late into the night at their hotel in Boston to see if they back into the playoffs with help from the Angels. One player who does not plan to stay up and watch the game if needed is ace Tarik Skubal.
“I’m not staying up and watching (Astros-Angels),” Skubal said on Saturday, per MLive (subscription required). “I’ll be asleep. Hopefully someone bangs on my door, and that means we’re in.”
Skubal made his feelings known, but if Detroit loses to Boston and the Astros beat the Angels, then manager A.J. Hinch will be forced to give the ball to his ace on Sunday afternoon at Fenway just to get into the Wild Card round.
Tarik Skubal Will Be Ready to Pitch Next When Needed
Detroit would love to lock up its spot in the playoffs on Saturday afternoon with a win against the Red Sox. Friday night, the Tigers were nine outs away from inching closer with a 3-1 lead, but they allowed one run in each of the final three innings and were walked off, 4-3. Boston clinched their playoff berth, and now, Skubal will be ready to take the ball on Sunday if needed.
“This is why you play the game,” said Skubal. “This is what you prepare for. This is why you do all the stuff in the offseason that you do. That’s why you spend the last seven months taking care of yourself daily. You don’t let your routine change. You stay grinding and try to get a little bit better each and every day to go out there and perform and just leave it all out on the field. At the end of the day, that’s all I can control, to do my best to win a game. That’s literally why I prepare the way I do.”
That is a reason why he is one of the leading candidates to win the American League Cy Young Award; he is always prepared for whatever scenario presents him and his teammates. Ideally, for Hinch, he would be handing him the ball on Tuesday in the Wild Card opener rather than Sunday afternoon in Boston.
Hinch made it clear on Friday before the first game of the series against the Red Sox that as long as Detroit has clinched a playoff berth, Skubal would not pitch on Sunday to win the Central Division or for seeding purposes. The Tigers can make Skubal sleep easily on Saturday night with a win in the afternoon.
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Scott Roche has covered both college and professional sports for nearly three decades for various outlets. Scott has covered the MLB, NHL, and college sports and he is someone always looking for a good rumor, no matter which sport it is.