Guardians fans should be thanking Tarik Skubal after he all but KO’d Tigers from postseason race

While the first 6 1/2 years of Tarik Skubal’s MLB career featured plenty of moments where he drew the ire of Northeast Ohio due to his dominance of the Guardians on the mound, he spent most of Friday night authoring a start that should put a smile on every Guardians’ fans face. 

Sukbal, who was making his return to Comerica Park, allowed one run in six innings while racking up seven strikeouts in the Dodgers’ 2-1 win over the Tigers. 

Although the Tigers got some slight revenge with a walk-off win on Saturday, Skubal’s ace-like outing against his former team all but confirmed the Guardians aren’t going to need to worry about the Tigers as they make their run toward a postseason spot over the final month of the season. 

Guardians fans finally got to benefit from one of Tarik Skubal's outings

The Tigers now sit at 63-72 on the season, which has them 8 1/2 games behind the White Sox for the top spot in the American League Central along with being five games behind the Guardians for the final Wild Card spot (though it’s really like six since the Guardians hold the tiebreaker over Detroit.)

While the Guardians blew their chance to capitalize on Skubal's gem on Friday, they still have enough of a lead over the Tigers that their struggles this weekend don't really matter in the context of that race.

Skubal’s start was also a tangible example of the bittersweet feeling that came when he was traded to the Dodgers at the deadline. 

On one hand, Skubal’s trade meant the already-loaded Dodgers were getting the best pitcher in baseball while giving the baseball world plenty of ammunition in their respective arguments about whether baseball needs a salary cap. 

But, on the other hand, it also meant that Skubal was leaving the American League Central and wasn’t going to be the Guardians’ problem in the postseason unless the two teams faced off in the World Series. His start against the Tigers on Friday was some icing on the cake.

The Guardians are also going to get a chance to take advantage of the Skubal-less Guardians next week when they welcome Detroit to Progressive Field for a four-game series that includes a doubleheader on Friday. 

Even if the Tigers’ postseason chances are essentially shot, a Guardians sweep in that series could be the final nail in the coffin. 

That long series also means the Guardians are going to see all but one of the Tigers’ current rotation of Framber Valdez, Drew Anderson, Troy Melton, Keider Montero and Jackson Jobe. A solid enough staff, but it lost a lot of its teeth earlier this month when the Tigers sent Skubal to the Dodgers. 

It'll be on the Guardians to make the most of that advantage.

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