Skubal in Cy form, leads Tigers by Astros in AL wild card

HOUSTON — The fastball torments, the changeup perplexes and the slider befuddles. But what separates Tarik Skubal — and what made his Detroit Tigers teammates confident the success of his incredible regular season would translate directly into his playoff debut — is sheer, unadulterated aggression. The type one can see from the batter’s box.

“I played against him when I was in the minor leagues in Philly,” Matt Vierling, now Skubal’s teammate, said. “I felt like he was staring right through me.”

Skubal, the Triple Crown winner who will soon be a unanimous choice for the American League Cy Young Award, held the potent Houston Astros scoreless through six innings in front of a hostile Minute Maid Park crowd Tuesday, leading his upstart Tigers to a stunning 3-1 victory in Game 1 of their wild-card series. Skubal scattered four hits and struck out six, but mostly, he attacked, issuing just one walk and throwing 73% of his pitches for strikes — including 14 of his first 15.

“Those guys swing early and often, put the ball in play,” Skubal said. “You have to be relentless at throwing strikes and getting ahead. When you get behind, that’s when the damage starts happening. Understanding that, but executing pitches from pitch one and being relentless and continuing getting leverage and keeping pressure on them as they’re trying to put pressure on me — that’s where I was at mentally.”

Skubal led the AL with 18 wins, a 2.39 ERA and 228 strikeouts during the regular season, all while boasting the best strike percentage among qualified starters. When July ended, a Tigers team that traded away Jack Flaherty and any other veteran players they could was left with two healthy starting pitchers, prompting the unconventional use of openers and bulk relievers who carried them to an improbable playoff berth.

That strategy only works with the right person residing atop a staff.

Skubal has been plucked right out of central casting.

“He’s intense, but he’s under control,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “He’s competitive, but he’s a thinking man’s pitcher. He’s got weapons. He’s the complete package of a guy that you want anchoring a staff.”

The bottom of the second inning provided a scare, when Astros catcher Yainer Diaz hit a 96 mph line drive that pelted Skubal on the right wrist — the same wrist that absorbed a comebacker in a similar situation 19 days earlier. Skubal shook it off after a visit from the athletic training staff and retired four of the next six batters.

He took the ball again in the fourth with a three-run lead — on second-inning RBI singles from Jake Rogers, Trey Sweeney and Vierling, the only damage allowed by Astros ace Framber Valdez — and trouble followed. Houston had runners on first and second with one out, and Skubal put his trust in his catcher, Rogers. He had shaken Rogers off earlier in the inning, and it resulted in a 114 mph line drive up the middle from Yordan Alvarez.

“I stopped shaking the rest of the game after that,” Skubal said. “It almost killed me.”

With the count 1-1 to right-handed-hitting shortstop Jeremy Pena, the 27-year-old left-hander threw a 98 mph two-seam fastball glove side, up in the zone, that was fouled off, then came back with a hellacious changeup that plummeted to the ground and generated a swing and miss. Rogers sequenced the next batter, Victor Caratini, similarly — with three consecutive two-seamers on the inside part of the plate, then a changeup that sailed way to the outside and generated another whiff.

“That’s just Skub, you know, being able to command that inside,” Rogers said. “No one likes to get hit, and we’re not trying to hit anybody. But to be able to throw inside these days is a huge, huge opportunity to get some chase away.”

Skubal recorded two quick outs in the sixth, but then, five pitches into an encounter with Alex Bregman, his left hamstring began to cramp, a common result of dehydration. Rogers asked him for one more batter. Skubal faced two. After Bregman hit a line drive off the top of the left-field scoreboard, Skubal came back to strike out Diaz on three straight pitches — a changeup in the dirt, a two-seamer down the middle and a 99 mph four-seam fastball that generated chase way above the strike zone.

Skubal became the first pitcher to throw six scoreless innings in his postseason debut since Max Scherzer in 2011. After the Tigers’ bullpen survived a chaotic ninth inning — with Jason Heyward lining out to first baseman Spencer Torkelson with the bases loaded and two outs in a two-run game — Skubal became the first Triple Crown winner to win his first postseason start that same year since Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax in 1963.

He did it by pounding the strike zone, which helped him complete two innings on just five pitches. He did it by consistently targeting inside corners with fastballs, setting up his off-speed pitches. He did it by never turning off the aggression.

“I played in the playoffs a couple years ago, and I felt like at this point in the season it’s so mental,” said Vierling, the only Tigers position player with postseason experience. “Ever since I got to know [Skubal], his mentality on the mound — it’s aggressive. He’s just an aggressive pitcher.”