A 68 year old Tigers fan sparked a fierce debate online after questioning why manager AJ Hinch pulled Tarik Skubal at 99 pitches during a critical elimination game. The post exploded with over 1,000 upvotes and 496 comments, with fans picking apart every single decision from that heartbreaking 15 inning loss to Seattle. But here’s the thing. The overwhelming consensus wasn’t about pitching strategy at all. One fan cut through the noise perfectly, stating “Skubal did his job. Bullpen did their job for 6 innings. Offense needed to make something happen.” The real issue was Tigers offensive loss, and not the decision regarding Skubal. It was about a Tigers offense that went absolutely ice cold at the worst possible time, managing just 2 runs across 15 brutal innings of playoff baseball.
When Your Bats Go Silent, Nothing Else Matters
Let’s get real about the numbers here. Detroit scored exactly 2 runs in 15 innings. That’s not a pitching problem. That’s an offensive disaster of epic proportions. One frustrated commenter didn’t hold back, writing “I’ve bitched about Kahnle all year but that loss was not on him. Dogshit at bats all night.” That single phrase captures everything wrong with Detroit’s performance. The loss, as fans claimed, was a Tigers offensive loss. The bullpen held Seattle scoreless for 8 additional innings after Skubal left the game. Eight innings. Your relievers gave you 8 more opportunities to manufacture a single run, and the offense couldn’t deliver. Another fan hammered home the point: “The pitching didn’t lose the Tigers that game. The offense not coming through with RISP did.” Runners in scoring position became Detroit’s kryptonite in that Tigers offensive loss Skubal could only watch unfold.
Kerry Carpenter stood alone as the offensive hero, going 4 for 5. Everyone else? A combined 4 for 46. Let that sink in. Four hits in 46 at bats from the rest of the lineup. One commenter captured the futility perfectly: “The way your batters failed it wouldn’t have mattered had he pitched 10 innings.” The 12th inning epitomized Detroit’s struggles. Runners on second and third with one out. A simple sac fly wins the game. Couldn’t make it happen. That’s not on Skubal or the bullpen. That’s on the guys holding the bats who led to that Tigers offensive loss.
“2 runs in 15 innings is like you’re hitting vs 1964 Koufax” – A fan describing Detroit’s offensive struggles
The Pitching Was Never the Problem
Let’s break down what actually happened on the mound. Skubal threw 6 dominant innings with 13 strikeouts. The bullpen entered and allowed just 1 run over the next 9 frames. Do the math. That’s a combined ERA of 1.80 for the entire pitching staff. Show me a team that loses with that kind of pitching performance and I’ll show you a team that can’t hit. Seattle’s pitching matched Detroit’s excellence, which explains the 15 inning marathon. Both teams were locked in an old school defensive battle. A fan summed it up: “Pitching was spectacular for both teams. This was an offensive loss.” Although Skubal pitched remarkably, the Tigers offensive loss resulted from the bats going cold at crucial moments.
All the hand wringing about Skubal’s pitch count completely misses the point. Maybe he goes one more inning. Maybe that 7th inning run doesn’t score. You still need runs to win. The Tigers gave their pitching staff exactly zero insurance runs after the 1st inning. Fourteen straight scoreless frames from your offense is inexcusable in an elimination game. When your team can’t manufacture a clutch hit for 15 innings, blaming the pitching decisions is just deflection. Detroit lost because the bats stayed silent. Everything else is noise. In the end, it was a mere Tigers offensive loss that Skubal had no control over.
Calling out bad takes. Living for the game and the post-game drama.
