"He loves competition," Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. "He’s into it as much as anybody that I’ve ever put on the mound.”

Andrés Giménez, Steven Kwan and David Fry loaded the bases with one out on three singles, setting up Skubal against All-Star José Ramírez. Skubal tried to challenge Ramírez inside with a 99.9 mph fastball but hit Cleveland’s slugger on the hand to plate Cleveland’s first run and tie the game at 1.