Tarik Skubal picked up his ninth victory of the season on Tuesday, limiting the Athletics to four runs on six hits over his six innings of work.
The superstar left-hander racked up eight strikeouts on the evening while allowing just one base on balls. That lone walk came to Jacob Wilson, the first hitter of the ballgame, who then rode home on a two-run blast by Brent Rooker before an out had been recorded. Skubal also served up a two-run homer to Denzel Clarke in the second inning before settling in and blanking the A’s for his final four innings. Skubal got 11 swings and misses on 97 pitches on the night — eight of them on his changeup — while posting a CSW of 27 percent. Now 9-2 on the season, Skubal hasn’t suffered a defeat since his second start of the season. He’ll carry a pristine 2.29 ERA, 0.87 WHIP and a 125/13 K/BB ratio (102 innings) into Sunday’s tilt against the Twins.