Two of the best pitchers in baseball got the ball to start Tuesday night's All-Star Game at Truist Park in Atlanta.
Detroit Tigers ace and 2024 American League Cy Young award winner Tarik Skubal took the hill for the AL All-Stars while Pittsburgh Pirates ace and 2024 National League Rookie of the Year Paul Skenes got the call for the NL for the second year in a row.
Before the game, they sat down together for an interview with Fox Sports' Tom Rinaldi where Skenes made a hilariously on-brand admission when asked how closely he followed his counterpart's journey.
"I didn't follow Major League Baseball at all when I was in college," Skenes said on the Fox broadcast as Skubal sat to his right. "So I had never heard of you."
A classic, blunt response from the ever so blunt and straight-faced Skenes, but he quickly followed that up with an awesome anecdote about when he first became familiar with Skubal.
"But one of my teammates said in a mound visit he was watching on TV and you didn't blink," Skenes continued. "He said, 'Tigers when they're hunting, they don't blink.'"
Skubal said he wasn't aware of that, calling it "a weird thing that goes on" when you're competing. Both aces weren't highly-touted prospects heading into college, having three total offers between the both of them coming out of high school. Now, they both sit as two of the most coveted pitchers in the big leagues, getting the opportunity to start against each other in the 2025 All-Star Game.
You can watch their full conversation which aired on the game broadcast below:
Tarik Skubal and Paul Skenes: Two aces on their way to becoming legends.
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) July 15, 2025
Tom Rinaldi sat down with tonight’s All-Star Game starters and discussed their unique journeys to this historic season.@tigers | @Pirates pic.twitter.com/ThWvrjNyJB
They each threw one inning and recorded two strikeouts apiece, notching two of thefastest strikeout pitches thrown during the ASG since the pitch-tracking era began. Skubal even got a strikeout using the ABS challenge system, although he also gave up three hits and two earned runs in his inning.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Paul Skenes Had Hilarious Admission When Asked About Fellow Ace Tarik Skubal.
