Tarik Skubal pitches 4 2/3 innings during first Tigers start since elbow surgery, hits 99.9 mph in loss to Guardians

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It didn't take Tarik Skubal long to strut his strikeout stuff on Saturday afternoon in Cleveland against the rival Guardians. The Detroit Tigers ace deployed his signature changeup to punch out Rhys Hoskins in the opening inning.

But Skubal, on an MLB mound for the first time since April 29, still wound up working out some kinks in his return from the injured list, where the hard-throwing lefty recovered from a May 6 surgery that removed a loose body from his left elbow.

The southpaw gave up five hits, three runs — including two earned — and one walk in a 3-1 defeat to Cleveland while being heckled at Progressive Field. Of his 80 pitches, 53 were strikes, with nine generating swing and misses. He clocked out with four Ks.

The two-time reigning AL Cy Young Award winner conceded a third-inning home run to Daniel Schneemann, who took a 98-mph four-seam fastball from Skubal and launched it 417 feet, all the way over the right-center wall. That dinger staked the Guardians to their aforementioned 3-1 advantage.

That, of course, was still the score when Tigers manager A.J. Hinch pulled Skubal in the fifth inning. He was replaced by right-handed reliever Kyle Finnegan.

But even in Skubal’s relatively brief outing, his patented changeup was recognizable, and his velocity impressed. In fact, on just his 11th pitch of the day, Skubal reached 99.9 mph with a sinker. Although Guardians rookie Chase DeLauter got a hold of that pitch for a single to left field, Skubal crept back toward the century mark again, and again.

He threw four of the five-fastest pitches during Saturday’s game, according to Statcast. The other three came in at 99.6 mph, 99.6 mph and 99.2 mph.

This story is being updated.

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