Tigers latest meltdown gave Guardians fans one last chance to laugh at Tarik Skubal’s expense 

It’s no secret that Tarik Skubal has owned the Guardians for most of his time with the Tigers. In fact, his 2.42 ERA against Cleveland is his best ERA against a team he’s thrown more than 31 innings against. 

But Guardians fans got one more chance to enjoy the Tigers failing Skubal yet again on Wednesday when Detroit blew a seven run lead over the Orioles in Baltimore’s 10-9 extra innings win over the Tigers at Comerica Park on Wednesday. 

Although Skubal’s start wasn’t the most dominant one he’s had in Tigers career (6 2/3 innings, 3 runs allowed), it was one of the more memorable ones since he racked his 1,000th career strikeout on the first batter of the game. And it could also be his final start with the Tigers before next Monday’s trade deadline. 

Even if a trade of Skubal could help the Tigers rebuild their farm system with players who could terrorize the Guardians for years to come, Detroit would still be trading the back-to-back Cy Young Award winner after bungling his arbitration process in the offseason. 

If this is indeed it for him in the motor city, Wednesday’s loss was a fitting way for him to go out. 

The Tigers' bullpen let Tarik Skubal down one last time

Baltimore’s win was historic in a variety of ways, as it was the largest comeback since June 2009 along with being the first time the Orioles won a game they trailed 7-0 since 1995. 

They entered the seventh inning down 7-0 with Skubal on the bump, but Leody Taveras tagged him for a two run single in his final batter of the game. 

That set up a bullpen meltdown where Kyle Finnegan and Drew Anderson took turns imploding on the mound as the Orioles worked their way back to tie it up. Both teams exchanged blows in extras before Colton Cower put the Orioles ahead for good in the 12th. 

The Guardians got their chance to rub that loss in Detroit's face even more with their 6-1 win over the Reds that helped them secure the Ohio Cup while also widening the gap between the two clubs by even more in the American League Central. 

Now, just because Skubal could be out of the division doesn’t mean he could be fully out of the Guardians’ hair, as two of the top suitors for Skubal are the Yankees and Rays. 

The Guardians are likely going to need to go through either of those teams to go deep into the postseason, so Skubal could still end up making an encore to his fantastic start against the Guardians in last year’s Wild Card Series. 

Skubal’s going to go down as one of the best pitchers in Tigers history while being one of the biggest Guardians villains in recent memory, his potential final start with Detroit was a bit of a dud. 

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