Tigers' Tarik Skubal nearly passed Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw for MLB history

Matt Sullivan

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Tigers' Tarik Skubal nearly passed Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw for MLB history image

The Detroit Tigers are in the middle of an incredible season, and one of the main contributors is staff ace Tarik Skubal. He's once again the favorite to win the AL Cy Young Award and has been dominant all season long.

Heading into his Thursday night start on the road against the Minnesota Twins, Skubal was looking to make MLB history, breaking a tie with Los Angeles Dodgers future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw.

According to Tigers PR on Twitter/X, Skubal and Kershaw (from 2016) are the only pitchers in MLB history to have three consecutive road starts with 10+ strikeouts and no walks. He could've changed that against the Twins, but came up short.

In what ended up as an extra-inning, thrilling comeback for the Tigers, Skubal wasn't his usual dominant self. Across seven innings pitched, Skubal allowed six hits, three earned runs, walked two, and struck out just three batters.

It was a quality start for Skubal, but he fell well short of the ten strikeouts needed to continue the streak. His two walks also shut down any chance of making MLB history.

But, while he couldn't become the leader, he is still tied with Kershaw for most consecutive starts on the road with ten strikeouts and zero walks with three.

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Those games for Skubal came against the Cleveland Guardians, Texas Rangers, and the Philadelphia Phillies. But, with the Tigers' offense taking a step back during that stretch, he only notched one win in a three-run outing against the Phillies.

In the year, Skubal has a 2.35 ERA, an 11-3 record, and 187 strikeouts with 21 walks across 23 starts and 145.1 innings pitched. The Tigers ace is on track to win the AL Cy Young Award, as he continues to make MLB history on the way.

While he didn't surpass Kershaw's record, he did tie it, further cementing the greatness of his run this year and last. Skubal has been nothing short of remarkable, and is a huge reason for the Tigers' success over the previous two years.

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Matt Sullivan

Matt Sullivan is a freelance writer for The Sporting News, predominantly covering MLB. Matt is a native of Pennsylvania and has worked with Athlon Sports, Last Word on Sports, and other outlets.