Aaron Judge's Tarik Skubal hype shows Tigers made right trade deadline decision

The Tigers shipped off to Williamsport, PA on Sunday to close out their series against the Yankees in front of the participants of the Little League World Series. They'd already taken one of two from the Yankees at Comerica, but this was the big time: ESPN Sunday Night Baseball, at an off-site venue, in front of a special crowd.

Tarik Skubal was the man on the bump. It was his turn in the rotation (his last start was Aug. 13), but it also just worked out well for MLB to have their apparent AL Cy Young winner on the mound to take on Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, and the rest of the Yankees lineup in primetime.

And the ever-reliant Skubal did not disappoint. He pitched six innings and only gave up one run on three hits, with the run scoring on a rare wild pitch. He had a bit of a walk problem, dishing out four free passes to the Yanks, but he also struck out five.

The first was a good one, too. Skubal was on his way to a nice 1-2-3 inning to start his outing, having gotten both Gleyber Torres and Juan Soto to ground out. Aaron Judge came to the plate, and Skubal took him down in three pitches.

Judge faced Skubal twice more and did get the better of him once with a single in the fourth, but after the game, Judge had high praise for the Tigers' ace, calling him "the best pitcher in the game right now."

Aaron Judge had high praise for Tarik Skubal after Tigers-Yankees faceoff in Little League Classic

The Tigers offense couldn't get going until the bottom of the ninth, when rookie Jace Jung knocked in his first major league run to tie the game and force extras. Zach McKinstry and Parker Meadows eventually played the heroes, with Meadows walking it off in the bottom of the 10th.

The Tigers' social media team was quick to jump on Judge's praise of Skubal, dedicating a whole Twitter post to it. It makes sense: Judge is the favorite for AL MVP and is arguably the face of baseball. He wasn't wrong either; Skubal is the best pitcher in the game right now. He just blew past a career-high in innings pitched and, with his Sunday start, worked his ERA just a tick below 2.50, the best in baseball. His 14 wins are tied with Chris Sale for the most in MLB.

All we can say is thank goodness the Tigers didn't do the worst possible thing by trading Skubal at the deadline. The best pitcher in baseball should stay a Tiger for as long as humanly possible.