Detroit Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal climbed the dugout steps, removed his hat and raised his prized left arm. He then switched his hat from his left hand to his right and raised his less-important right arm. Finally, Skubal tapped his chest and pumped his fist.

He did this to acknowledge the fans at Comerica Park.

They cheered for Skubal after Sunday's 9-5 loss in the regular season finale, as the ace of the Tigers officially won the American League pitching Triple Crown by leading the league with 18 wins, a 2.39 ERA and 228 strikeouts. It's all but official he will win the AL Cy Young Award, as well.

"It's pretty special," Skubal told Bally Sports Detroit after Sunday's game. "It'll probably hit me when our season ends. It'll probably hit me a little bit more than it is right now, just because the job is not finished for us. That's where I'm at, but if you ask me whenever our season is over, it'll probably be a different answer."

"He's been our steady, and he's been our guy," manager A.J. Hinch said Monday, the day before the 2024 MLB playoffs. "He's been able to grow in the national attention, yet be the same person behind the scenes with the same work ethic and the same routine. That is one of the understatements of his year, how good he's been for a team that really needed presence along the way. He's been nothing short of the best pitcher in baseball."

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Skubal, a ninth-round pick in the 2018 draft out of Seattle University, became the first pitcher to win the Triple Crown in a full season since 2011, when Justin Verlander and Clayton Kershaw both won their respective league's Triple Crown.

Three Tigers pitchers have won the AL pitching Triple Crown: Hal Newhouser (1945), Verlander and Skubal.

Skubal would have pitched Sunday's regular-season finale if the Tigers needed him, but after clinching a playoff spot in Friday's 4-1 win over the Chicago White Sox, the Tigers locked in Skubal for the first game of the postseason.

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The Tigers named Skubal as the Game 1 starter for Tuesday's opener of the AL wild-card series against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park in Houston, facing Astros left-hander Framber Valdez.

"Might be the easiest decision of my tenure here," Hinch said.

Six pitchers since 2000 have won Triple Crowns in their respective leagues in a full season: Randy Johnson in 2002, Johan Santana in 2006, Jake Peavy in 2007, Kershaw and Verlander in 2011, and Skubal in 2024. Shane Bieber won it in the shortened 2020 season.

A total of 30 Triple Crowns have been won by 21 pitchers since earned runs became official in both leagues in 1913.

"When you see special seasons like this, the hardest thing to do is put it in proper context while you're watching it," Hinch said. "Think about Miguel Cabrera's Triple Crown, how incredible that was. Now put it in perspective of his entire career, and we have a whole new perspective. We're going to look at Tarik's year much differently five years from now, 10 years from now when that list is still short. ... He should get the national attention that he's about to get because of the dominant season that he had in all categories, including the Triple Crown."

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

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Tigers' Tarik Skubal takes AL Triple Crown with wins, ERA, strikeouts