Tarik Skubal strikes out seven in first return to Detroit since being traded

[p]The back-to-back Cy Young Award winner gave up only one run on four hits and no walks in six innings, also striking out the side in the third inning.[/p][p]He finished with just 83 pitches, the fewest he's tossed since joining the Dodgers. [/p][embed guid="7dea5407-7331-4931-9a85-f87815532707" url="https://x.com/TalkinBaseball_/status/2093499010031993094?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/skubal-tarik/zuS2jB1J/"]Skubal[/a], 29, now has a 3.00 earned run average through five starts with the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/los-angeles-dodgers/nwPDBpVc/"]Dodgers[/a] and a 2.84 on the season.[/p][p]Entering Friday's matchup, Skubal had given up nine runs through 24 innings (3.38 ERA), surpassing 105 pitches in each of his last two starts after not going above 96 in any with the Tigers this season. [/p][embed guid="84d702b5-aca6-4a5a-b6c4-1944c86db10c" url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FZoSrlWHJI&pp=ygUGU2t1YmFs" social-type="youtube" /][p]Skubal missed over a month after undergoing a procedure to remove loose bodies in his throwing elbow back in May. [/p][p]He posted a season-worst 4.03 ERA in the month of June before getting back to form with a 2.03 in July ahead of the blockbuster trade. [/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/detroit-tigers/0QIlt8pi/"]Detroit[/a] dealt Skubal to the Dodgers ahead of this year's trade deadline in exchange for outfielder [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hope-zyhir/nmexdvKd/"]Zyhir Hope[/a] (MLB No. 25 prospect), Triple-A pitcher [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ryan-river/fqVmvWSq/"]River Ryan[/a], and Single-A pitcher Brady Smith ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/news/detroit-tigers-trade-tarik-skubal/QeivuwwQ/"]more details here[/a]). [/p][embed guid="d87204c3-ecb2-4700-a701-c3d79b6c87dc" url="https://x.com/tigers/status/2093468204332912847?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]Los Angeles went into Friday's matchup with the second-best record (80-54), just behind the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/milwaukee-brewers/CGzqC60o/"]Milwaukee Brewers[/a] (83-51). Meanwhile, the Tigers are sitting 5.5 games out of the third and final Wild Card spot with a 62-71 record. [/p][infobox id="3e982646-21d3-4baf-ac34-10f731dff476" /]