Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal returned from an injury scare and gave up one run over six innings against the Cleveland Guardians on Thursday

Detroit Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal throws against the Cleveland Guardians during the first inning of a baseball game Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

DETROIT (AP) — Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal returned from an injury scare and gave up one run over six innings against the Cleveland Guardians on Thursday.

Skubal, who had tightness on his left side during his previous start, allowed seven hits, struck out nine and walked two in a 102-pitch outing.

The reigning AL Cy Young Award and pitching Triple Crown winner was replaced by right-hander Troy Melton in the seventh in a 1-all game. Nine pitches later, Jose Ramirez hit a go-ahead, two-run homer to give the Guardians a 3-1 lead.

The AL Central-leading Tigers were desperately hoping to win the series finale against the second-place Guardians, whose recent rally coupled with Detroit's slump has made the division race competitive with a little more than a week left in the regular season.

Cleveland made the most of Skubal's mistake in the fourth, taking advantage of an 0-2 changeup he threw over the plate with Jhonkensy Noel's game-tying solo homer. In the same inning, the 28-year-old Skubal struck out Brayan Rocchio to set a single-season career high with 229 strikeouts.

The hard-throwing lefty was more effective later in the game, striking out David Fry with a 101.5-mph pitch to end the top of the fifth inning.

He started the sixth inning with 82 pitches and struck out Gabriel Arias on four pitches and Noel on four more pitches. With a chance to get out of the sixth, Rocchio hit a triple that right fielder Wenceel Pérez had a chance to catch but could not snag.

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Detroit Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal throws against the Cleveland Guardians during the first inning of a baseball game Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

The Guardians extended the inning with Austin Hedges' walk on a pitch Skubal thought was a strike as he squatted in disbelief that he threw a ball.

Skubal responded by striking out Nolan Jones with a 99.5-mph pitch to end the sixth in his start that showed he's healthy. He threw 100 pitches for the third time, two shy of a season-high 105 in July against Texas.

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Detroit Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal throws against the Cleveland Guardians during the first inning of a baseball game Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)