After winning the Cy Young Award last season, Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal put himself on the map as one of the best pitchers in all of baseball. And thus far this season, he has certainly lived up to that billing, which continued in perhaps his career-best outing on Saturday against the Cleveland Guardians, which puts him in his own category in the history of baseball.
The Guardians’ offense simply had no answer for Skubal, recording just two hits all game long in what was a truly special game from Skubal, who put together a complete game shutout with 13 strikeouts en route to a 5-0 victory.
THIRTEEN STRIKEOUTS.
BALLGAME.TARIK SKUBAL 😤 pic.twitter.com/dBH39aJgp0
— MLB (@MLB) May 25, 2025
Recording 27 outs in just 94 pitches puts Skubal in a class of his own. According to Dalton Feely of Jomboy Media, Skubal is the only player in MLB history to record a complete game shutout in under 100 pitches with 13 or more strikeouts in said game.
Pitchers in MLB history with a 9 inning complete game shutout, 13+ K’s, in under 100 pitches
Tarik Skubal today… THATS IT
Skubal just threw the BEST ‘MADDUX’ IN BASEBALL HISTORY
— Dalton Feely (@dfeely14) May 25, 2025
There is obviously plenty of season to go for Skubal. But at the moment, it’s hard to picture a world where Skubal isn’t squarely in the conversation to again be in the race for the American League Cy Young this season, sporting a 2.49 ERA on the year after Saturday’s game.
More importantly for Skubal, his impressive performance has continued what has been a great start to the season for the Tigers, who sit atop the American League Central division with a 34-20 record in 2025.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.