Detroit's Skubal back in Cleveland to face Guardians after nightmare inning last week

CLEVELAND (AP) — Detroit's Tarik Skubal will be back on the mound at Progressive Field on Tuesday for the first game of the AL Wild Card Series against Cleveland. The start comes one week after the Tigers ace had a nightmare sixth inning against the Guardians. Skubal threw a 99 mph fastball that struck David Fry in the nose and face after the Cleveland designated hitter squared to bunt. Skubal was distraught and immediately dropped his cap and glove before he covered his mouth in disbelief. Fry was hospitalized overnight and suffered a broken nose and facial fractures. Skubal went to visit Fry in the hospital and both teams have said there was no ill will involved. However, the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner was put in a difficult position when asked whether it was better to return to that same mound so quickly or if it would have been better if it happened next season. "That kind of puts me in a bad spot, knowing how to answer that. Yeah, I don't really know how to answer that question. I'm sorry," Skubal said. Skubal also had a throwing error, a wild pitch and a balk in the inning as the Guardians rallied to take a 3-2 lead before winning 5-2. The victory tied Cleveland with Detroit for the AL Central lead before the Guardians eventually won the division title. Tigers manager AJ Hinch thinks Skubal has put what happened to Fry behind him, especially being able to visit him in the hospital and seeing that Fry was going to be OK. "I don't think Tarik will be impacted by much of anything other than the adrenaline he needs to control going into Game 1 of a playoff series, which is something he's done before," Hinch said. "We were in this exact position last year, and he went in and had an incredible game using that energy and that adrenaline." Skubal was 13-6 during the regular season with an AL-low 2.21 ERA and 0.89 WHIP. He was second in strikeouts with 241. This will be Skubal's fifth start against the Guardians this season. He is 1-1 with an 0.64 ERA and held Cleveland to a .165 batting average. He threw a complete game, two-hitter on May 25 and seven shutout innings on July 6. "I think it's not only that he's one of the best, but he's like elite at what he does," Guardians infield Bryan Rocchio said of facing Skubal. "Obviously he's tough but he likes to compete. He's one of my favorite pitchers because of the way he pitches as well. Skubal though is 3-4 in 14 career starts against Cleveland, including the postseason, with a 2.50 ERA. He made two starts in last year's AL Division Series, and allowed five runs in six innings in the Guardians 7-3 win in the fifth and deciding game. "I enjoy pitching here. The environment's great. You talk about postseason baseball and the noise and kind of the chaos and then the rowdiness," Skubal said. "I think this place kind of embodies all of that so I enjoy playing here." Williams going for Cleveland Gavin Williams (12-5, 3.06 ERA) will take the mound for the Guardians on Tuesday. The right-hander has been the best player in the rotation since the All-Star break, going 7-1 with a 2.18 ERA. He was 2-0 with a 1.06 ERA in three starts against Detroit this season. Williams has had a career resurgence this year after going 6-15 his first two seasons. "I mean, kind of star struck a little bit, just being able to start a playoff game. It's phenomenal. Them trusting me to go Game 1, it's unbelievable," he said. Road to the postseason The Guardians won the season series, taking eight of the 13 games, including five of the last six. The Tigers though were 4-2 in Cleveland. The Guardians were 40-48 and 15 1/2 games back after Detroit completed a three-game sweep on July 6. Cleveland went 48-26 the rest of the way and won the AL Central by one game, completing the biggest comeback in division or league play in baseball history. The 1914 Boston Braves were 15 games back in the National League on July 4 and rallied to win by 10 1/2 games, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Since baseball went to division play in 1969, the biggest deficit overcome had been 14 games by the 1978 New York Yankees to win the AL East. The Tigers were up 11 games on Sept. 4 before going 6-15 down the stretch, the fourth-worst mark in the majors. Meanwhile, the Guardians were an MLB-best 19-4, including a 10-game winning streak. "I think there's always a need to explain yourself when you're in my shoes or when you're in your team's shoes of why did it happen the way it happened," Hinch said. "The reality is when we set out, we wanted to be a playoff team. The one thing we can't do now is win the division, but we're in the hunt, and we have a chance to win this series as much as Cleveland does. There's no more talk about how we got there." Familiar foes This is the third straight week the Tigers and Guardians have met. Cleveland swept the three games in Detroit Sept. 16-18 and then two of three at home Sept. 23-25. "I don't know if it's a pro or a con, just it is. Of course it happened this way," Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said when asked if familiarity this time of year is an advantage or not. "We know them well, they know us well. It's three straight weeks of an early week series, and it's going to be fun. It's always fun when we play Detroit, and we're looking forward to it."