Longtime friends Tarik Skubal of Tigers, Matthew Boyd of Guardians share Game 2 stage

Tarik Skubal's path toward being the probable American League Cy Award winner includes receiving tutelage from former Detroit teammate Matthew Boyd.

That's the same Matthew Boyd who will start for the Cleveland Guardians against Skubal in Game 2 of the AL Division Series on Monday afternoon in Cleveland.

"Now we're on this stage so I think that's pretty special," Skubal said. "It'll be fun to watch him go play. But I'm going to be rooting against him pretty heavily."

Skubal (18-4, 2.39 ERA) and the Tigers are looking to even the series after Cleveland rolled to a 7-0 victory in Saturday's Game 1.

Boyd (2-2, 2.72) pitched for the Tigers from 2015-21 and again in 2023. His second tenure ended with Tommy John surgery. Then it was Skubal's time to be the supportive one.

"His story coming back from Tommy John and he signs with (Cleveland) and gets an opportunity to prove that he's healthy, and he's looked great," Skubal said of Boyd. "So I actually watched a lot of his rehab starts, too, and texted him after those just because the process is tough. Tommy John is a tough injury to have. Just more mentally than physically."

Skubal, 27, knows the agony of rehabbing because he did it himself. He missed the 2017 season as a college sophomore at Seattle University after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

Boyd, a Seattle-area native, first heard of fellow lefty Skubal in 2018 when talking to Seattle University coach Donny Harrel. A few months later, the Tigers drafted Skubal in the ninth round.

Their relationship strengthened during the COVID-19 shortened season of 2020. Skubal reached the majors and needed work on the mental side of the game.

"I had a lot of discussions with him, just mentally, you're worried about going up and down, how do I just focus on my job?" Skubal said. "And he had a lot of advice and a lot of good stuff for me throughout all that.

"I think that speaks to the guy he is. I think he's the nicest guy in the world."

Tigers manager A.J. Hinch concurred with Skubal's scouting report.

"Man, you're going to make me say positive things about Matt Boyd before Game 2," Hinch said. "Everything that has been said about him really can only be positive.

"You know, baseball is incredible. It leads you to sometimes familiar places, and this one is leading us to a familiar face in a really big game against somebody who we all respect and admire."

Boyd, 33, signed with the Guardians in late June and returned to the majors in mid-August. He didn't face the Tigers this season. Overall, the left-hander has pitched four hitless innings in two career relief appearances against Detroit.

He will not have mixed feelings Monday, but he's not shy about expressing his appreciation of his time with the Tigers.

"I'm grateful for my time in Detroit, and Detroit will always be a second home and I'll always have just immense, immense gratitude for the Tigers organization and a love for Michigan because of our time there," Boyd said.

Skubal won his lone meeting against Cleveland this season - the lefty gave up one run and 10 hits over seven innings on July 22 -- and is 2-2 with a 3.46 ERA in eight starts against the Guardians.

Cleveland roughed up the Tigers for five first-inning runs in Game 1, with Lane Thomas' three-run homer in his first career postseason at-bat being the big blow.

"I thought it was great for our guys to come out with a bang like that," Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. "For us to come out swinging like that and putting pressure on the other team, and obviously for Lane, we've loved having Lane since the first day he got here, and for him to get the big hit there, that was a big moment."

--Field Level Media