On Sunday, the Detroit Tigers had a very cool opportunity to compete in the Little League Classic against the New York Yankees where they were all able to hang with the Little Leaguers before their own game in Williamsport, PA.
This was the eighth edition of this event that gives two teams an opportunity to attend Little League World Series games so they can help grow the sport at the youth level. Players and their families will then be able to watch the Major League contest in person later that night.
For the Tigers, it ended in exciting fashion.
After trailing 1-0 entering the bottom of the ninth inning, their newest call up, Jace Jung, was able to make his presence felt when he singled in the game-tying run to push things into extras. Then, after Zach McKinstry tied things up again in the 10th frame, Parker Meadows continued to be red-hot at the plate when he produced a walk-off single to give Detroit a 3-2 victory.
In the short-term, this win doesn't matter much for this team, but it was great to see a lot of the young players who could be the future stars on this roster for years to come.
It just so happened that Tarik Skubal was also on the mound to try and shut down the Yankees, something he did when allowing just one run on three hits with five strikeouts over six innings pitched.
Seeing their young hitters put together a comeback win while their star left-hander continued to dominate the competition had to make Tigers fans feel good.
Following the game, New York's superstar Aaron Judge had some high praise for Detroit's ace.
"He's the best pitcher in the game right now ... When he came back last year at the end of the year, he hit a different gear, a different level. It's not fun facing a guy like that, but it's fun competing against the best," he said per MLB insider Jon Morosi.
That is quite the high praise.
Saying that Skubal is the best pitcher in the sport when his teammate is reigning AL Cy Young winner Gerrit Cole and the other reigning Cy Young winner, Blake Snell, has thrown a no-hitter and keeps shutting out opposing lineups, just shows how good the Tigers star can be.
Skubal is leading Major League Baseball's starting pitchers in ERA (2.49) and wins (14). He's second in WHIP (0.93), fWAR (4.5), and third in strikeouts (185) entering Monday.
He's been completely dominant as he gets closer and closer to winning his first AL Cy Young award.
The sky is the limit for Skubal, and with him anchoring the rotation for Detroit, they seem to have a bright future if their star prospects continue to develop and the front office adds pieces to help out the ace.
