Friday was a scary 24 hours for Tigers fans, who watched star pitcher Tarik Skubal allow four earned runs to the Marlins before leaving his start with discomfort in his side.
Fortunately, Detroit manager A.J. Hinch indicated to reporters Saturday that Skubal would be fine.
"Tarik Skubal’s imaging came back clean and he plans on making his next scheduled start," ESPN's Jeff Passan wrote on social media Saturday, citing Hinch. That start would potentially take place Thursday against the Guardians.
Skubal, 28, is a strong candidate to win his second straight American League Cy Young Award. He's 13–5 with a 2.26 ERA and 224 strikeouts in 183 1/3 innings this season, and he leads all AL hurlers in bWAR for the second consecutive year.
The Tigers are currently 84–64, and lead Cleveland by 7.5 games in the race for the AL Central Division. Detroit hasn't won a division crown since taking four straight from 2011 to '14.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Tarik Skubal Injury: Tigers Receive Positive Update on Top Pitcher.