CLEVELAND — Tarik Skubal didn’t look sharp in the beginning.
His fastball velocity was down, and his command wasn’t pinpoint.
The 26-year-old, who made his MLB debut three years ago to the day, escaped his first two innings — surrendering one run in the process — before dominating in his final four innings. He led the Detroit Tigers to a 4-2 win over the Cleveland Guardians in Game 1 of Friday’s doubleheader at Progressive Field, kickstarting a four-game series.
“My pregame bullpen wasn’t really sharp, either,” Skubal said. “I had to really focus and really start getting back to cues that I know when I’m commanding the ball well, it works. You’re trying to find something to spark it.”
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The Tigers (55-66) took a three-run lead in the first inning, then let Skubal (and two relievers) keep the Guardians — second place in the American League Central — at bay the rest of the way.
Skubal, making the eighth start of his return from flexor tendon surgery, allowed one run on three hits and one walk with seven strikeouts, tossing 63 of 88 pitches for strikes. He didn’t record his first strikeout until the third inning.
His changeup helped him escape the frustrations in the first two innings.
“I was just landing it a lot,” Skubal said. “Early on, I didn’t really command anything for the first two innings. I was all over the place, and then, that’s the pitch I was commanding early counts to get ahead of guys. … I don’t think I was commanding anything well until I started throwing that pitch for strikes.”
The left-hander needed 33 pitches to get the first six outs — 16.5 pitches per inning — but averaged just 13.8 pitches per inning for the final 12 outs. He retired 12 batters in a row from the second out in the second inning to the first out in the sixth inning.
In the first inning, José Ramírez doubled off Skubal’s first-pitch fastball, and two batters later, Oscar Gonzalez hit a first-pitch slider for an RBI single, cutting the Tigers’ lead to 3-1.
Skubal walked Brayan Rocchio in the second inning. The next baserunner for the Guardians didn’t reach safely until Ramírez’s one-out single off Skubal’s changeup in the sixth inning.
His velocity increased and command sharpened as he got deeper into his outing.
For his 88 pitches, Skubal threw 35 four-seam fastballs (39.7%), 27 changeups (30.7%), 10 sinkers (11.4%), 10 sliders (11.4%) and six knuckle curves (6.8%). He generated 16 whiffs with seven four-seamers, seven changeups, one sinker and one knuckle curve.
He also had 17 called strikes.
“I felt good after the sixth (inning), too,” Skubal said. “The pitch count wasn’t really high, by any means, so I felt good enough to go out there for the seventh. But obviously, different stuff kind of factors into that. I don’t make those decisions.”
Left-handed reliever Tyler Holton covered the seventh and eighth innings. Right-handed reliever Jason Foley picked up his sixth save despite allowing a leadoff triple to Steven Kwan, which resulted in the Guardians’ second run, in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Leading it off
Before Skubal took the mound, the Tigers backed their starting pitcher with three runs the top of the first inning. Right-hander Gavin Williams, a 2021 first-rounder, entered his 11th start with a 2.80 ERA in the first 10 starts of his MLB career.
“That’s why I was frustrated after the first (inning),” Skubal said. “You get a three-run lead, you should be back in the dugout with 12 pitches or less and a zero (on the scoreboard). … For me to give up one (run), that’s pretty frustrating.”
Akil Baddoo, a left-handed hitter who has served as the Tigers’ leadoff hitter against right-handed pitchers since Aug. 7, crushed Williams’ second-pitch four-seam fastball for a 412-foot solo home run to center field.
It marked the second leadoff homer in Baddoo’s three-year career, featuring 85 starts as the Tigers’ leadoff hitter.
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Baddoo has improved his performance in the past 14 games, dating back to July 29, by hitting .293 with three home runs, four walks and 13 strikeouts. The 25-year-old, who celebrated his birthday with one hit and three walks Wednesday, often finds success when he stays selective in his approach.
He finished 2-for-4 with one strikeout in Game 1 of Friday’s doubleheader.
After the power
The Guardians nearly escaped the first inning without further damage.
Williams retired back-to-back batters — Riley Greene (groundout) and Matt Vierling (groundout) — after Baddoo’s leadoff home run. But the Tigers extended the inning with three consecutive two-out hits.
A double from Spencer Torkelson, a single from Kerry Carpenter and a double from Miguel Cabrera resulted in two more runs for a 3-0 advantage. Torkelson has 26 doubles this season; Cabrera has 622 doubles in his 21-year career.
“We just wanted to get on his heater,” Carpenter said. “He has a really good heater, so we tried to punish that because that’s the pitch he probably wanted to get beat with, if he was going to get beat.”
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With Cabrera’s double, the 40-year-old tied Hall of Famer Mel Ott, who played from 1926-47, with 1,868 RBIs for 11th on MLB’s all-time list.
Williams allowed three runs on six hits and two walks with four strikeouts in five innings, throwing 58 of 90 pitches for strikes. He generated 17 whiffs, but the Tigers put 17 balls in play against him, including 12 balls in play on fastballs with an average exit velocity of 96.3 mph.
“Maybe we were on the heater a little too much the second time through (the batting order),” Carpenter said. “He exposed us a little bit, but he was pretty good.”
Catcher Jake Rogers, who finished 2-for-4, launched his 15th home run in 82 games this season in the top of the ninth to make it 4-1 Tigers. He deposited a four-seam fastball from right-handed reliever Eli Morgan into the seats in right-center.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold.