The Detroit Tigers and Houston Astros both sent their aces and Cy Young contenders to the mound on Tuesday night and the matchup did not disappoint. Both pitchers threw scoreless outings, and the Tigers walked off the Astros in the 10th innings for a 1-0 win.
“I was telling the strength coaches, that felt like a playoff game,” Tigers’ reliever Will Vest said (h/t The Detroit News). “I was sitting there between innings and reminiscing about last year. Like, wow, this feels like the playoffs again. These games, we’re competitors and it brings the best out of you.”
Vest pitched the ninth and tenth innings and kept the Astros off the board. He earned the win in the 1-0 victory after striking out Astros’ Victor Caratini in the top of the 10th to strand the Astros’ automatic runner on second base.
Skubal and Brown Dominate in Pitchers Dual
The Tigers used their top closers in Vest and Kyle Finnegan to cover the final three innings after Skubal gave Detroit seven shutout innings. The Tigers’ ace allowed just three hits and two walks and struck out 10 batters to become the first pitcher this season to reach 200 strikeouts.
“Like, he’s nasty. “I faced him many times before and I always say, nasty,” Tigers’ second baseman Gleyber Torres said (h/t The Detroit News). “I’m glad I am playing with him. It’s really special the way he pitches. The way he commands everything when he’s on the mound. I feel like he’s in control of everything. Every time he’s on the mound, I feel like we’re going to win.”
10 Ks tonight.
200 strikeouts this season.
Tarik Skubal continues to dominate 😤 pic.twitter.com/JMeZeA3Eqa— MLB (@MLB) August 20, 2025
Brown matched Skubal on the mound by throwing six shutout innings. The Astros’ ace allowed a little more traffic on the bases with five hits and three walks, but kept the Tigers off the board and struck out six batters.
“I don’t even think he was at his best, just watching from my side,” Skubal said of Brown (h/t The Detroit News). “I’ve seen him much better and that’s a compliment to who he is. To still get six zeroes without your best stuff, that’s what separates the good pitchers from the great ones like he is.”
It was a truly a matchup of greats in Detroit on Tuesday night, and the two Cy Young contenders lived up to the billing.
Hunter Brown continues to duel!
Brown and Skubal are scoreless through six 🍿 pic.twitter.com/qA8sD4dNfI
— MLB (@MLB) August 20, 2025
Skubal leads the American League in ERA, strikeouts, WHIP and is second in batting average against and innings pitched. Just behind him is Brown, who is second in the AL in ERA, third in strikeouts, fourth in BAA, and fifth in WHIP.
To prepare for the Cy Young contenders matchup, the Tigers watched a replay of two former Cy Young pitchers and a couple of the greatest to play the game dueling it out on the mound.
“We got done playing catch and our pitching coordinator pulled all the pitchers into the conference room and pulled up a Youtube video,” Vest said (h/t The Detroit News). “It was Pedro Martinez and Roger Clemens facing each other and we just sat there and watched the game. It was two of the best in the game and we watched the whole thing.”
“And to think a few years from now in instructs there’s going to be guys sitting in a conference room watching this game with Hunter Brown and Tarik Skubal. It was awesome. A pitcher’s duel between two great pitchers, some of the game’s best.”
Brown and Skubal were must-watch television on Tuesday night, as they have been all season long. The two studs showed up and showed out in a pivotal matchup between two of the top teams in the AL.
The Tigers lead their division with the best record in the American League, and the Astros lead their division with the third-best record in the AL. Both teams knew how important the game was, and Tigers ace helped Detroit edge Houston on Tuesday night.
“The win is important,” Hinch said. “We want to win games and win series. It’s the same message. It’s boring, it’s old, it’s redundant. I am glad we have the tiebreaker right now. But we’re trying to stack as many wins as we can so hopefully the tiebreaker doesn’t matter.”
The Astros and Tigers play their series finale on Wednesday afternoon.
