Tarik Skubal is back on the mound Friday night, and the Detroit Tigers are asking him to start the next turn of a season that has already swung sharply in both directions. He is scheduled to face Erick Fedde as the Tigers open a three-game weekend series against the Chicago White Sox at Comerica Park in Detroit.
The game is set for 6:40 p.m. ET and carries extra weight because it comes after Skubal’s return from the injured list. In his previous outing against the Cleveland Guardians, he worked 4 2/3 innings, allowed three runs, two earned, on five hits and a walk, struck out four and hit one batter in a 3-1 loss. For a pitcher returning from a layoff, it was a reminder that sharp timing does not always return with the uniform.
That makes Friday more than a routine series opener. The Tigers opened June by winning seven of their first nine games, then swept the Tampa Bay Rays and took two of three from the Seattle Mariners in June before losing four of five after taking two of three from the Minnesota Twins at home. They were then swept by the Cleveland Guardians and lost two of three to the Houston Astros, a run that has left the margin for error thinner than it looked earlier in the month.
The White Sox arrive with their own urgency. They have been in a battle with the Cleveland Guardians for the top spot in the AL Central, a surprise position for a club that has given Detroit a difficult look this season. Fedde, who is scheduled to start for Chicago, threw five scoreless innings against the Minnesota Twins on June 3 for his first and only win of the season. Before that, he faced the Tigers in relief and allowed two runs over four innings in a 4-3 Chicago win in extra innings.
Fedde’s recent numbers point to a pitcher who can keep a game tight, and Skubal’s return adds a layer of uncertainty to a matchup that already sits at a pivotal point in the standings. Game 75 gives both teams another hard indicator of where they are headed, but for Detroit the larger test is simpler: whether Skubal can look like an ace again after an uneven first start back.
The Tigers do not need a perfect night from him. They need a cleaner one than the last.
