CLEVELAND -- The jeers came from all over Progressive Field.
“Skuuuuuu-bal! Skuuuuuuuu-bal!”
Some Guardians fans chanted it quickly. Others strung it out for emphasis. But with every Guardians scoring threat on Tarik Skubal, the chants came around, without fail.
If Skubal couldn’t return to action in front of Tigers fans at Comerica Park, there was no better place for him to return from the injured list. His history with the Guardians is long and varied, from his complete-game shutout last season in Detroit to postseason gems there the last two Octobers.
Saturday was not one of his gems, nor for the Tigers defense behind him, with three runs scoring – two earned – on five hits over 4 2/3 innings. But considering Skubal’s return came just 38 days after surgery to remove a loose body from his elbow, simply having him back was a victory.
“That's our guy,” Spencer Torkelson said beforehand. “We love playing behind everybody, but there's just a little different vibe in the clubhouse on days he's on the bump.”
The Guardians put traffic on the bases in each of Skubal’s first four innings, capitalizing on two of them. A hit-by-pitch on Stuart Fairchild after a leadoff single from Travis Bazzana created a second-inning opportunity. Skubal nearly pitched out of it, but catcher Dillon Dingler’s throw trying to catch Bazzana stealing third sailed into left field, allowing Bazzana to score easily and tie the game at 1-1.
By contrast, Daniel Schneemann’s two-run homer is one Skubal will regret. After putting Schneemann in an 0-2 hole, Skubal left a 98 mph fastball over the plate. Schneemann, who entered as an injury replacement for Chase DeLauter in the third inning, belted Skubal’s heater deep to right-center. It was just the fifth home run Skubal has allowed on an 0-2 pitch in his career.
The normally passionate Skubal kept his composure throughout, ignoring the jeers and pitching around the miscues. When he fielded Fairchild’s fourth-inning bunt and found no one covering first base, he pitched his way out of the jam with help from third baseman Hao-Yu Lee, who threw out Bazzana at the plate on a Brayan Rocchio ground ball.
The Tigers were cagey about how long Skubal might pitch in his return, but once reliever Kyle Finnegan began warming in the bullpen following the fourth inning with Skubal at 74 pitches, the limit seemed clear. Skubal retired José Ramírez and Schneemann to begin the fifth before manager A.J. Hinch took the ball. Skubal had no reaction, walking to the dugout, dropping his glove on the bench and sitting down before pitching coach Chris Fetter joined him for a conversation.