00:00What happens when a two-time defending Cy Young Award winner squares off against one of the best
00:05offenses in baseball? We're about to find out, and it's a matchup no Tigers fan will want to miss.
00:10Tonight at 7.15 p.m., E.T., Tigers left-hander Tarek Skubal, the American League Cy Young winner
00:16in both 2024 and 2025, takes the mound against the Braves at Truist Park in Atlanta. It's a
00:22major test for Detroit's ace, and the kind of challenge that tells you exactly where a pitcher
00:27stands. Through his first six starts of the season, Skubal carries a 2.72 ERA. His most
00:33recent outing came last Thursday against the Brewers at Comerica Park, where he allowed four
00:38runs on seven hits over six-plus innings while striking out five. Across 36-1-3 innings, in
00:442026, he has racked up 38 strikeouts and issued only six walks, trademark command and swing-and-miss
00:51stuff. This will be just the second time in his career that Skubal faces the Braves, the
00:56first meeting on June 19, 2024 in Atlanta, didn't go his way. He surrendered five runs,
01:02four earned, on seven hits in four innings, even though he struck out seven. A positive
01:07note for Detroit, the two Braves who homered off him that day, Sean Murphy, and Ramon Laureano,
01:13won't be in the lineup on Wednesday. Murphy is still rehabbing a torn right hip labrum, and
01:18Laureano now plays for the Padres, among current Braves hitters. Catcher Jonah Heim, three for
01:2416 lifetime against Skubal with one home run. First baseman Matt Olsen, two for seven, and
01:30utility man Mauricio Dubon, one for seven, HR, have seen him the most. Shortstop Jorge Mateo is three
01:37for five off Skubal, second baseman Ozzie Albies is two for two, and third baseman Austin Riley is
01:43one for two. As a team, Atlanta has come out swinging in 2026, ranking second in all of MLB behind
01:50the
01:50Dodgers in batting average, 274, slugging percentage, .455, and OPS, .795. The Tigers enter Wednesday's
02:00game in first place in the AL Central, holding a half-game lead over the Guardians in what is
02:05shaping up to be a tightly contested division, even the fifth-place Royals sit only two and a
02:10half games out of first. The Central, as always, is up for grabs. The Braves, on the other hand,
02:16own baseball's best record at 21-9 after Tuesday's 5-2 win over the Tigers in the series opener.
02:22That loss came with painful costs for Detroit. Starter Casey
02:27Mize exited in the third inning with right groin tightness, and shortstop center fielder Javier Baez
02:33was carted off the field after appearing to injure his right ankle while running to first base on a
02:38ground ball. Both players are scheduled to undergo MRIs on Wednesday. Should Mize need a stint on the
02:45injured list, it would deal another blow to a Tigers rotation that is already missing Justin Verlander,
02:50left hip inflammation, Troy Melton, right elbow inflammation, and Jackson Jobe, recovering from
02:58Tommy John surgery. Kyder Montero and Jack Flaherty are healthy, and free agent addition Framber Valdez has
03:05provided a steady presence, but the man Detroit leans on most at the top of the rotation is Scooball.
03:12To have a real shot at winning a road series against a Braves club that has started this strong,
03:18the lefty will have to bring his A-game, fortunately for the Tigers. Tarek Scooball usually does. So,
03:26as first place meets the best record in baseball, do you think Scooball rises to the occasion tonight
03:31and reminds everyone why he's a back-to-back Cy Young winner, or will this Atlanta lineup prove to be
03:37too much?
03:38To be continued...
03:38To be continued...
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