The Detroit Tigers and Pittsburgh Pirates will have their ace pitchers on the mound on Thursday, but perhaps not in the same game. A Wednesday rainout led to a doubleheader on Thursday in Detroit.
Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes will reportedly pitch in the nightcap, while Tigers star Tarik Skubal reportedly takes his turn in the day game. Why is that? Fans anticipated seeing two of MLB’s best young pitchers go against each other.
Tigers Manager A.J.Hinch Cleared the Air on the Skubal-Skenes Situation
Hinch addressed why Skubal isn’t pitching against Skenes. Hench, during an appearance on 97.1 The Ticket, said, “Maybe (Skubal’s) a day-game guy and Skenes is a night-game guy. Their routines are all really different.
“It was not to avoid it or it was not to create it,” he said. “Sometimes it falls on the schedule well, sometimes it’s as simple as like, ‘Hey, Tarik, sorry, man, I know you want the day game but we need to put you in the night game,’ for the good of the fans. That’s probably not a path I’m going to go on.”
A.J. Hinch felt allure of Skubal-Skenes, but “there’s more to it than simply the appeal”https://t.co/kmM4nr6bU3
— 97.1 The Ticket: (@971theticketxyt) June 19, 2025
Skubal (7-2, 1.99 ERA) is a formidable opponent. In Comerica Park in Detroit, though, he is particularly frugal. Skubal has a 1.72 ERA in seven home starts this season and a 5-0 record.
Overall, Skubal has a 7-0 record and a 1.47 ERA in his last 12 appearances. In his last four starts, he has pitched 30 2/3 innings, recorded 32 strikeouts, and given up just one run. In his most recent appearance, Skubal held the Baltimore Orioles scoreless for seven innings.
Skenes (4-6, 1.78 ERA), on the other hand, has given up just one earned run in his last four starts. He has not allowed more than two runs in his last eight starts for the Pirates. Skenes has a 1.01 ERA and is 1-3 over the last eight games.
Skenes’ stretch of seven consecutive quality starts ended in his most recent outing. On Friday, June 13, he put in a lot of work against the Chicago Cubs, needing 95 pitches to complete five scoreless innings.
As of late Wednesday night, the Tigers had not announced a starter for Game 2. Keider Montero (3-1, 4.24 ERA) is probably going to get a lot of innings. In his most recent appearance, Montero held the Cincinnati Reds to two runs in five innings on Friday, recording a victory.
In the same game that Skenes pitched against Detroit, Montero made his major league debut. The Detroit right-hander allowed four runs in 4 1/3 innings.