DETROIT — It's not that Tarik Skubal is advocating for truancy for our school kids. Honest. But given the choice between school and Skubal, come on.

"Let's have them miss school again Thursday," Skubal said, acknowledging the large pocket of school kids and teachers in attendance at Comerica Park for the abruptly scheduled matinee Tuesday. "I think this is a great way to miss school. I mean, I'm not going to be an advocate for not going to school.

"So, go to school tomorrow and come back Thursday."

With fans holding up signs that read "The Skub Season" with a massive letter "K" on the back, Skubal not only rewarded their attendance on a soggy and foggy day, he may also have erased any lingering questions — if there were any — about his Cy Young candidacy.

"He pitched his heart out, man," manager AJ Hinch said after the Tigers secured a vital 2-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. "He left it all out there on the field. … It felt like we put the whole team on his shoulders."

It's a broad set of shoulders and he seems to welcome the weight. Skubal rolled through the Rays' batting order two and a half times Tuesday. He allowed two singles and a walk, never allowing a runner into scoring position in seven innings.

He struck out seven. He got 18 misses on 56 swings, 15 called strikes and the 15 balls put in play against him had a meek average exit velocity of 81 mph.

In other words, he was dominant. And the win keeps the Tigers (83-74) ahead of the Twins for the final wild-card spot, regardless of the outcome of the Twins game Tuesday night.

"It's a ton of fun," Skubal said. "This is why you play the game, to play in moments like this and play in front of the fans. Even with the time change, they still showed up and they were loud from pitch one. It's a ton of fun and it's nice that we kind of control our own destiny now."

The game, moved up to 1:10 p.m. to avoid storms that were forecasted later, was delayed 49 minutes. Attendance was announced at 22,770 but the time change and weather kept some of those ticket holders away. But those who came were loud and proud and they gave Skubal a massive ovation after he ended his day by striking out Christopher Morel to end the seventh.

He applauded them right back.

"Always," Skubal said of his response. "I'm thankful for the fans here. They've always embraced me since the day I got here. For me to perform in front of them and give them something to cheer about this late in the season, it's why you play the game."

Skubal was in full control without his most electric fastball. The average velocity on his four-seam and two-seam fastballs was down by nearly 1 mph, though it started ticking up as the conditions dried up.

"It was a little wet, little damp and misty," he said. "And I sweat a ton. When you mash those things together it's sometimes hard to grip the ball. As the weather went away, that's when my stuff started getting crisper and I was able to grip the ball better."

With catcher Jake Rogers again sequencing pitches like a master, Skubal steadfastly kept baseballs off the barrels of Rays' bats.

"He doesn't get outs because of velo," Hinch said. "Obviously, that's part of the equation. But he gets outs because he dominates the strike zone and attacks hitters. He has a lot of different pitches he can use. … He can do a lot of different things and part of his evolution has been being adaptable to a game plan and doing different things."

Skubal's slider was effective and the changeup, which he's scuffled with a bit the previous two starts, was back on point.

"Yeah, I executed it a lot better today," Skubal said of his changeup. "I don't think I executed it very good in my last two starts. It was better today for me. I was in the zone and out of the zone when I needed to be."

Besides the seven strikeouts, Skubal induced eight ground ball outs.

"They might have put the ball in play a little more than normal or more than I expected, but other than that, he was pretty good," Rogers said. "He's fun to catch. Those guys (Rays) are good over there, too, and to hold them to two hits is pretty impressive. It's impressive against any big-league team and to give us seven strong innings — that's Skub-like."

The seven zeros lowers his American League-best ERA to 2.39. It was also his league-best 18th pitcher win, the most by a Tiger since Max Scherzer won 18 in 2014. It was his 22nd quality start, which is tied for second-most in baseball. The Tigers are 21-10 in his 31 starts.

"He was incredible," Hinch said. "It was a really tough day to pitch with the starting time change, the mist at the beginning through his entire warm-up and just the importance of the day. He got better as the game got going and that was really encouraging.

"He's our guy and that was a big-time performance."

Unless the Tigers have clinched a playoff spot by then, Skubal is scheduled to make his final regular-season start in the season finale Sunday against the White Sox.

"We've got to get there," Skubal said. "We haven't clinched or done anything like that. We've got to get there. My mind is on Sunday. We have to keep winning."

Beau Brieske finished off the final two innings. He got five straight outs before Brandon Lowe slugged a two-out homer in the ninth.

The offense came in one clutch swing. Rookie Wenceel Perez won a nine-pitch at-bat against Rays starter Ryan Pepiot with the bases loaded and two outs in the fifth inning and lined a two-run, ground-rule double over the short wall in right field.

"I was seeing him pretty good today," said Perez, who might've been the only Tigers hitter who did. "I was seeing all of his pitches pretty good and I was in rhythm with the pitches he was throwing me. That was great. I was staying in the battle the whole time."

Perez worked an 11-pitch walk in the first inning. In the fourth, he worked a six-pitch walk and he was stranded at third base when Pepiot retired both Colt Keith and Spencer Torkelson.

The game was still scoreless in the fifth. Pepiot had just got Kerry Carpenter to pop out on one pitch for the second out and seemed poised to wiggle out of another jam after he got ahead of Perez 0-2. But Perez kept grinding and extending the at-bat. He got it to 3-2 again, fouled off two straight cutters and on the ninth pitch of the at-bat, laced another cutter into right field.

"I knew he was trying to jam me with something in," Perez said. "I was ready to catch it out front."

That was all the offense the Tigers mustered or needed.

Afterward, Hinch was again asked about the gravity of the moment. The Tigers, given up for dead after the trade deadline, have the best record in baseball (28-11) since Aug. 11 and are holding a playoff spot with five games remaining.

"We know how exciting this is," he said. "The dugout vibe is incredible, the energy from the beginning of the day … I know we ambushed the city with the game time change, but it was loud at the end. The people that were here, first, thank you for changing your plans. And two, thank you for being a part of this win.

"We love being at home for this. But we have more work to do. My enthusiasm is there because of the importance of these games and how the guys are responding."

____

©2024 The Detroit News. Visit detroitnews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.