Tigers' Tarik Skubal Sends Clear Paul Skenes Message After Loss to Pirates originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The baseball world was robbed of a tremendous pitching matchup on Thursday, as while Pirates ace Paul Skenes toed the slab for Pittsburgh, Tigers ace Tarik Skubal was tabbed to pitch on Thursday's game at Comerica Park.

After trailing 4-0 early, the Tigers rallied to force extra innings, but couldn't score in the 10th to lose, 8-4, to Pittsburgh.

Through 39 career starts, Skenes has 276 strikeouts and a 1.91 ERA. According to the New York Times, no pitcher before Skenes ever had 275-plus strikeouts and a sub-2.00 ERA in their first 39 games. The Pirates don't win as many of Skenes' starts as they should, but that's a matter for another day.