Tigers Turn to Tarik Skubal To Clinch ALCS Berth Against Mariners
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The Detroit Tigers barely made it into the playoffs this year after imploding in the final six weeks of the season, but September is over, and it doesn't matter how they got here, but that they did.
Despite struggling through the wild-card match with the Cleveland Guardians, they advanced into the American League Divisional Series. Now the team is matched up with the Seattle Mariners.
The Mariners had a chance to put the Tigers away in game four in what was an elimination game for the Tigers. They took an early 3-0 lead and it looked like it was going to be the end of the series, but the offense rallied. The Tigers scored nine straight runs to force a game five which will be a winner take all matchup.
Now, if the Mariners had the upper hand at any point in this series it won't be in game five as the Tigers will be sending out one of the best pitchers in baseball- Tarik Skubal.
The Mariners got the best of him in game two of this series, but it is hard to imagine that will happen twice.
This will be the third start that Skubal has made in the playoffs. He has now faced off with the Cleveland Guardians as well as the Mariners. In those two starts, he has finished 14 innings, striking out 23 batters in that time. This is the guy who can advance the Tigers into the ALCS.
Skubal Amongst Others This Postseason
Skubal is the only starting pitcher for the Tigers up to this point to finish more than eight innings, but that isn't necessarily surprising. It isn't often in the postseason that a team uses a pitcher for nearly as long as they would go in a regular season game, but Skubal isn't a typical pitcher.
The Tigers have arguably the best starting pitcher on their roster as he is the only starter to tally up more than 18 strikeouts so far in these playoffs. He is also holding opponents to a batting average of .157 with an ERA of 1.84 in his first two starts.
Game 5. We live or die by Tarik Skubal. pic.twitter.com/gQSMGiOyqv
— Tigers Torkmoil (@bythewaybro) October 8, 2025
Detroit is now in a do-or-die situation and there is truly nobody else that they would rather have take the mound. This is what the playoffs is all about; you want your season resting on the shoulders of your best player and that is by far Skubal.
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Maddy Dickens resides in Loveland, Colorado. She grew up with two older brothers, where their lives revolved around sports. She earned a master's degree in business management from Tarleton State University while simultaneously playing basketball and competing in rodeo at the collegiate level. She successfully parlayed a reserve national championship into a professional rodeo career and now stays involved in upper-level athletics by writing for On SI on several different MLB teams' pages, along with some NCAA sites.