Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal has dominated on the mound for most of the season, and it’s carried over into the Major League Baseball playoffs after he shut down the Cleveland Guardians lineup during Game 2 of the American League Division Series this week.
Skubal pitched seven shutout innings and struck out eight batters to help the Tigers earn the victory and even the series.
However, during Skubal’s mother was apparently upset with her son during the game, and let him know about it on social media.
After inducing a grounder that resulted in an inning-ending double play in the bottom of the fifth inning, Skubal yelled, “Shut the f**k up” at the Guardian’s crowd as he walked off the mound.
Skubal’s mother was not a fan of the language, and she let him know it in a post on X (formerly Twitter), even resorting to using his middle name—the universal sign that a line has been crossed.
Tarik Skubal: STFU 🤣 pic.twitter.com/RfQV5dWtqc
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) October 7, 2024
Skubal shared that he also received a text message from his mother in addition to the scolding tweet.
“She texted me after the game, ‘Love you,’ whatever, but she was saying the same thing, she’s like, ‘You can’t do that on the road,’ ” Skubal said. “And I’m like, ‘I know, Mom, I know. I don’t what got into me.'”
“That was really funny.”
While Skubal acknowledged that the moment gave him an adrenaline boost, he also admitted that getting so fired up towards fans was probably not wise.
“Tarik Daniel is when I was in trouble growing up, so I haven’t got that in a while, probably since high school is the last time I was really in trouble with my mom.”
“I guess I wish I would have just kept it within our team and our guys and not really interact with the fans, just because it becomes a slippery slope and some bad things can happen, especially if fans are drunk, whatever, (stuff) happens,” Skubal said. “I should probably just keep that within our team going forward, but it was fun. Obviously, I fed off of it.”
The moral of the story? You’re never too old to upset mom!