Skubal’s 1st complete game and 5-run 4th inning help Tigers beat Guardians and avoid 4-game sweep

DETROIT (AP) — Tarik Skubal gave up two hits and matched a career high with 13 strikeouts in his first professional complete game, Zach McKinstry had a two-run homer in a five-run fourth inning and the Detroit Tigers beat the Cleveland Guardians 5-0 Sunday to avoid a four-game sweep.

The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner was perfect through five innings and finished with a nearly flawless performance. He had a baserunner for the first time after Will Wilson doubled on the second pitch of the sixth.

Skubal (5-2) gave up only one more hit and hit one batter with a pitch in a masterful, 94-pitch outing that included just 22 balls. It was the eighth complete game in the major leagues this season and fifth individual shutout.

Logan Allen (2-3) allowed a season-high five runs — four earned — five hits and four walks over 3 2/3 innings.

Justyn-Henry Malloy hit a leadoff single and scored on McKinstry’s third homer. Javier Báez followed with a double and came home on Gleyber Torres’ double. Allen’s throwing error allowed Detroit to take a 5-0 lead.

Detroit Tigers’ Zach McKinstry reacts to his two-run home run against the Cleveland Guardians in the fourth inning during a baseball game, Sunday, May 25, 2025, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Cleveland kept leadoff hitter Steven Kwan out of the lineup for the first time this season. First baseman Carlos Santana was scratched with tightness in his left leg.

Key moment

McKinstry provided a much-needed homer for a team that lost the first three games in the series against the defending AL Central champions who eliminated them in their AL Division Series.

Key stat

Detroit Tigers’ Gleyber Torres hits a one-run double against the Cleveland Guardians in the fourth inning during a baseball game, Sunday, May 25, 2025, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Skubal became the first in franchise history to have 10-plus strikeouts in four straight home games.

Up next

Detroit RHP Keider Montero (1-1, 5.28) and San Francisco RHP Hayden Birdsong (2-0, 1.91) are the probable pitchers in their series opener at Comerica Park on Monday afternoon before Cleveland starts a homestand with RHP Gavin Williams (4-2, 3.94) and RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto (5-3, 1.86) scheduled to start.