Tarik Skubal struck out seven batters on Friday night in his first return to Detroit since the Tigers traded the star pitcher to the Los Angeles Dodgers earlier this season.

The two-time Cy Young Award winner delivered a strong performance against his former team, allowing just one run on four hits while issuing no walks over six innings. Skubal also struck out the side in the third inning.

The 29-year-old finished his outing after throwing just 83 pitches, his lowest total since joining the Dodgers. Through five starts with Los Angeles, Skubal now owns a 3.00 ERA, while his season ERA stands at 2.84.

Skubal Continues to Find His Form

Coming into Friday’s matchup, Skubal had surrendered nine runs across 24 innings with the Dodgers, resulting in a 3.38 ERA. He had also thrown more than 105 pitches in each of his previous two starts after never exceeding 96 pitches in any start with Detroit this season.

His workload has been carefully monitored since he missed more than a month following a procedure in May to remove loose bodies from his throwing elbow.

Skubal struggled during June, posting a season-worst 4.03 ERA for the month. However, the right-hander quickly rediscovered his form in July, recording a 2.03 ERA before being involved in one of the season’s biggest trades.

Tigers Trade Skubal to Dodgers

The Detroit Tigers sent Skubal to the Los Angeles Dodgers ahead of this year’s trade deadline in a major deal that brought several prospects back to Detroit.

In exchange, the Tigers received outfielder Zyhir Hope, ranked No. 25 among MLB prospects, along with Triple-A pitcher River Ryan and Single-A pitcher Brady Smith.

The Dodgers entered Friday’s game with the second-best record in Major League Baseball at 80-54, trailing only the Milwaukee Brewers, who stood at 83-51.

Detroit, meanwhile, was 62-71 and sat 5.5 games behind the third and final American League Wild Card position.

Postseason Race Heating Up

With the MLB regular season entering its final two months, every game has taken on added importance as teams battle for postseason positions.

For Skubal, Friday’s return to Detroit provided an opportunity to face his former club while demonstrating that he remains one of the most dangerous pitchers in baseball as the Dodgers push toward the MLB Postseason.