• Tarik Skubal extended their winning streak to five games on May 9 by defeating the Detroit Tigers 2-1 against the Texas Rangers 2-1.
• Is there any special brewing of tigers? According to baseball reference, they have a 19.5% chance of winning the World Series in Major League Baseball.
• Despite its success, Skubal and manager AJ Hinch emphasizes a focus on daily improvements rather than long-term outcomes.

The Detroit Tigers returned to Comerica Park on May 9 and spanned three time zones after a 10-game trip: three games in Houston against the Astros (center), three games in Anaheim against the Angels (Pacific) and Denver against the Rockies (mountain).

The tour was booked in a family series in the Eastern Time Zone.

This marks the first time in franchise history that the Tigers played four series in four different time zones in a row.

The Tiger's plane didn't land until 2 a.m. on May 9, less than 17 hours before the three-game series opening of the Texas Rangers in Detroit, but left-handed Tarik Skubal flew home before the team plane to prepare for his start.

"We had a long road trip and the guys were late," Skubal said. Skubal was as high as 99.5 mph twice in the first inning, beating at 100.1 mph in the seventh inning after a 2-1 victory. “You might expect some low-powered games, but I don’t want that to happen.”

That was the on-site leader.

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He didn't start. He came out like a flamethrower.

“That was designed,” Skubal said. "I think the guys are a little tired - not that we are really tired, but I just don't want that to happen on a late plane. I want to use a quick first inning to inspire them and get us into the canoe."

Skubal is the 2024 American League Young Champion – with a perfect match in the sixth inning before Josh Smith hits a two-hit fastball for the lead single, but Skubal still dominates: 7 singles with zero walks and 12 strikeouts.

He produced 32 WHIFFs, which is any tiger pitcher since the start of the 2008 sales tracking era.

There were six sounds in the first inning.

"There may be some extra effort in the first inning," Skubar said.

The Tigers expanded their winning streak to five games, improving their best record to 26-13, and staying on MLB with a differential difference.

Are there some special brews?

"I don't know," Skubar said. "What month is it? May. May. There is a lot of baseball to play. I don't want to be ahead of that. .........especially we show up and try to win every game. ... we need to focus on tomorrow."

That's the off-site leader.

He sounds like manager AJ Hinch.

"The only way I know how to prepare is to get our guys focused," Hinch said. "When you get these answers from them, it's my fault. All they want to talk about is the next series because that's everything they hear, but I'm proud of our players and our organization."

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Skubal is one of the best teams in baseball.

The hype works easily.

After all, the Tigers have a 99.9% chance of making the playoffs. They also have a 90.7% chance to win AL Central (not doing that since 2014), while the MLB best 19.5% won the World Series chance, which has never happened in Detroit since 1984.

But Skubal didn't consider October.

He focuses on May 10th.

"Our focus needs to be better every day," Skubal said. "I think we did that, and that shows. It's something AJ instilled in everyone. When we come to the yard tomorrow, nothing that happened in the last four games is important. I think our team really believes in that."

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @evanpetzold.

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