It was going to be Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander Tarik Skubal's night regardless of the outcome. But in Skubal's return to his original home park, he showed the Detroit Tigers why many consider him the best pitcher in the world.
Skubal struck out seven batters through six efficient innings in the Dodgers' 2-1 win over the Tigers on Friday, Aug. 28, at Comerica Park. Skubal was cheered pregame – and then booed right before his first pitch – before putting up a vintage performance Tigers fans have seen many times at the park that hosted him for parts of seven seasons.
First baseman Freddie Freeman hit a go-ahead, two-out, RBI single in the eighth inning to give the Dodgers a 2-1 lead. He finished with two hits, while the Tigers only managed four
baserunners total through the first seven innings.
Tigers center fielder Max Clark hit a two-out, two-strike RBI triple off Skubal in the fifth inning to put the Tigers ahead 1-0. Fellow rookie Ben Malgeri also had an impressive throw from right field in the sixth inning to cut down Dodgers right fielder Kyle Tucker at home plate, keeping the Tigers ahead – though the Dodgers tied the game on an RBI single from pinch hitter Miguel Rojas two batters later.
Tigers right-hander Drew Anderson matched zeros with Skubal through the first four innings, though he also paired his outing with a season-high five walks. He finished his outing allowing no runs on four hits and five strikeouts, not quite reaching the fifth inning. Tigers relievers Drew Sommers, Tyler Holton and Jacob Waguespack combined for one run allowed but also stranded eight Dodgers runners total in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings.
On the mound: Drew Anderson's scoreless outing
Anderson struck out Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani on a backfoot curveball to start the night, and then followed with a strikeout of first baseman Freddie Freeman. And after walking shortstop Mookie Betts and third baseman Max Muncy back-to-back, he got second baseman Tommy Edman to ground out to end the first.
After a clean second inning, Anderson started the third inning with a leadoff walk of ninth-place hitter Hunter Feduccia, but immediately erased his trouble by getting Ohtani to ground into a 4-6-3 double play. He recorded his season-high fourth walk of the game in the third inning on Freeman, but got Betts to strike out to end the third.
Anderson ran into trouble in the fifth inning after allowing a leadoff single to Teoscar Hernández, eventually loading the bases after a walk to Ohtani and an infield single from Betts. The left-handed Sommers came out of the bullpen to relieve him and struck out Max Muncy to end the inning and keep the game scoreless.
DAWG DAYS OF SOMMER 🔥 pic.twitter.com/wKl1H2vfq5
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) August 28, 2026
With Sommers back on in the mound in the sixth, Kevin McGonigle fielded a Tucker ground ball and threw over first baseman Spencer Torkelson's head, allowing Tucker to walk into second base on the error with one out in the sixth. Pinch-hitter Enrique Hernández then hit a single to right field, and with Tucker running home, Malgeri threw a strike to catcher Dillon Dingler, who tagged Tucker at home to keep the Tigers ahead 1-0.
Rojas' two-out, pinch-hit RBI two batters later tied the game, however, before Freeman's go-ahead RBI in the eighth.
At the plate: Tigers face Tarik Skubal
Tigers fans booed Tarik Skubal as he made his way to the pitchers mound in the bottom of the first inning, then booed him even more when he paused the game with a PitchCom issue. The boos seemed to come from a competitive place, rather than actual hard feelings, however, since the fans gave Skubal a standing ovation during his pregame walk from the dugout to the bullpen.
Tigers second baseman Gleyber Torres then hit a leadoff double on the second pitch he saw, a four-seam fastball down the middle of the plate. He later added a leadoff single in the sixth inning, giving the second baseman five career hits off of Skubal in 13 at-bats.
But after Torres' double, Skubal set down the next 12 batters in order, including striking out the side in the third inning to keep the Tigers scoreless early on.
Tarik Skubal, K'ing the Side in the 3rd.
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) August 28, 2026
6Ks thru 3 pic.twitter.com/THOviD0LFj
Clark delivered the first blow of the game, however, hitting a two-out opposite-field RBI triple down the left-field line (with some help from the corner wall confusing Dodgers left fielder Teoscar Hernández) to score Valencia from second base. The hit came on a two-strike, 99 mph fastball on the outside part of the plate, a pitch that tends to overwhelm most hitters.
Skubal finished with six innings pitched, four hits, one earned run, no walks and seven strikeouts on 83 pitches. He did not exit in line for the win, and it came as somewhat of a surprise that he didn't come out for the seventh inning.
With Clark on third base and two outs in the bottom of the eighth, McGonigle came up to bat against Dodgers lefty Alex Vesia, but his 403-foot towering fly ball – the longest Tigers connection of the night – came up short of the center-field wall in his bid to give the Tigers the lead.
Next up: Another Cy Young winner
The Tigers take on the Dodgers in the second game of their three-game series on Saturday, Aug. 29 (1:10 p.m., Detroit SportsNet). The Tigers will starting Keider Montero (9-8, 3.30 ERA) against two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell (2-1, 2.57 ERA).
Friday's loss dropped the Tigers (62-72) to six games back of the Cleveland Guardians in the American League wild-card chase, with the Guardians facing the Royals in a late game.
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You can reach Christian at cromo@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Tigers come up short in reunion with Tarik Skubal for 2nd straight loss
