Tigers' Skubal clinches AL pitching Triple Crown

Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal clinched the American League pitching Triple Crown despite not pitching Sunday.

Skubal finished his season as the AL leader in wins (18), ERA (2.39), and strikeouts (228). He won the Triple Crown with ease, sitting two wins above a trio of hurlers in second place and having a sizeable lead in ERA over runner-up Ronel Blanco, who finished at 2.80.

Kansas City's Cole Ragans entered the day five strikeouts behind Skubal but didn't make his scheduled start to prepare for the playoffs. Seattle Mariners right-hander Logan Gilbert would've needed 16 Ks on Sunday to catch him.

Skubal is the 18th AL pitcher to win the Junior Circuit's pitching Triple Crown and the first to do it in a 162-game season since another Tigers ace, Justin Verlander, in 2011. (Shane Bieber won it during the shortened 2020 season.) Skubal joins Verlander and Hall of Famer Hal Newhouser (1945) as the only Tigers pitchers to accomplish the feat.

The 27-year-old is also just the sixth left-hander to earn a pitching Triple Crown in the AL, joining a list that includes four Hall of Famers as well as Twins great Johan Santana.

"That's pretty cool, to accomplish something like that," Skubal told Brent Maguire of MLB.com. "But what I'm most proud about is that we're in the playoffs. That's more fun than winning a Triple Crown. That's kind of how I feel about it."

In addition to his Triple Crown, Skubal finishes what will likely be a Cy Young-winning season as the AL leader in winning percentage (.818), ERA+ (170), and FIP (2.49). He also tallied a 0.92 WHIP and 10.7 K/9 while issuing just 35 walks and allowing 15 homers in 192 innings.

Skubal's next start will mark his playoff debut in Game 1 of the AL wild-card series against a to-be-determined opponent Tuesday.