DETROIT — A postponement of the Detroit Tigers and Pittsburgh Pirates’ matchup Wednesday night due to inclement weather opened the door for a meeting MLB fans are clamoring for.
Two of the top pitchers in the game in Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes and reigning AL Cy Young winner Detroit’s Tarik Skubal were originally scheduled to miss each other by one day.
Now the pair are each going to take the mound at Comerica Park on the same day — in separate games.
Much to the ire of baseball fans on social media, Skenes and Skubal are not set to go head-to-head on Thursday.
Strangely enough, the pair also narrowly missed each other in 2024, pitching on separate ends of another doubleheader.
Like May of last year, Skubal will pitch in the first game and Skenes in the second.
It wasn’t lost on Tigers manager A.J. Hinch, the optics of two elite pitchers ending up in the same situation, but he says the decision of Skubal going first was up to his ace.
“You know what’s funny, everybody started asking me about that last night, I got friends asking me, and I understand the appeal of it. Let me tell you how sophisticated this is,” Hinch joked in an appearance on 97.1 The Ticket on Thursday. “I go to Tarik Skubal and I’m like, ‘Hey, what game do you want?’ He’s like, ‘Game 1.’ I’m like, ‘Cool.’ And then he gets Game 1, regardless of whether Skenes is pitching or not.
“Maybe (Skubal’s) a day-game guy and Skenes is a night-game guy. Their routines are all really different,” said Hinch. “It was not to avoid it or it was not to create it… I do love it when that theatre can be created if the schedule allows it, but I also understand reality that there’s more to it than simply the appeal.”
Hinch later told reporters Skubal prefers the first game if he’s in a double header.
Pirates’ manager Don Kelly doesn’t speak to reporters before day games, but relayed to the Detroit Free Press through a spokesperson that the choice “was a managerial decision based on what was best for the team.”
When the weather in the Detroit metro area began looking ominous on Wednesday, fans started theorizing a postponement could lead to a huge pitching duel.
Not long after the postponement was made official Wednesday night, posts on X, formerly known as Twitter, started calling for the managers to change their plans.
But it seems as though both managers and pitchers are sticking to what was scheduled.
It’s unfortunate fans won’t be treated to the first head-to-head meeting of the two All-Stars, but it’s become a big deal when either takes the mound and should mean some big performances at Comerica Park on Thursday.
Following his breakout rookie season, Skenes has been nothing short of excellent in his second year. Holding a 1.78 ERA (1st in MLB) with 97 strikeouts (11th in MLB) and opposing batting average of .176 (1st in MLB), he’s been dominant. A 4-6 record for the year speaks more to the Pirates’ struggles on offense to support their ace.
Skubal’s not slowed down at all after winning the AL Triple Crown and the Cy Young last season, posting a 1.99 ERA (4th in MLB), opposing batting average of .197 (7th in MLB), and a ridiculous 12.3 K/BB ratio (1st in MLB) for the American League’s best team.
Game 1 of the doubleheader is scheduled for a 1:10 p.m. first pitch with Skubal facing lefty Andrew Heaney (3-5, 3.33). The makeup game from Wednesday will start at 5:40 p.m., where the Tigers are expected to use an opener ahead of right-hander Keider Montero (3-1, 4.24 ERA) to face Skenes..
A Skubal-Skenes meeting is still in the cards this year. There’s a three-game series between the Tigers and Pirates in Pittsburgh next month following the All-Star break.
Fans will just have to keep their fingers crossed the schedule fully lines up next time around.
