The Detroit Tigers' offense finally woke up in Sunday's fifth inning, scoring eight runs.

Left-hander Tarik Skubal continued his American League Cy Young Award campaign with another dominant performance, lowering his ERA to 1.92 in 13 starts, but thanks to the eight-run outburst, the Tigers left no doubt about the result of the game.

The Tigers beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 10-2, in Sunday's finale of the three-game series at Comerica Park, avoiding the sweep and snapping a three-game losing streak.

"It's a good feeling when you score for him early and give him the lead," manager A.J. Hinch said. "You sort of feel like you can just hand the ball to him. It's unfair because he doesn't need to be perfect, and he got a little unlucky at the end with the cheap run, but it's nice to have him running out to the mound every inning with the lead, especially at home."

JEFF SEIDEL: Detroit Tigers' Zach McKinstry is at peace with team role because he's at peace in his life

Skubal, who racked up double-digit strikeouts for the second time this season, allowed one run on five hits and two walks with 10 strikeouts across 6⅔ innings, throwing 95 pitches.

His 1.92 ERA is the lowest by a Tigers starting pitcher in the first 13 starts of a season since Al Benton (0.99) and Hal Newhouser (1.83) in 1945.

"I'm pretty confident in my stuff," Skubal said. "Cool stat, but what I take more pride in is putting our team in a position to win a ballgame. Every time I'm out there, I want to win. Cool stat, but I like winning more than I like ERA."

[ MUST LISTEN: Make "Days of Roar" your go-to Detroit Tigers podcast, available anywhere you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify) ]

The Tigers (32-33) delivered their big fifth inning against right-hander Bryse Wilson and left-handed reliever Hoby Milner, building upon a 2-0 lead in the first inning from Riley Greene's RBI double and Justyn-Henry Malloy's sacrifice fly.

Wenceel Pérez jumpstarted the eight-run inning with a bunt single. Eight batters reached safely in the fifth, with half of them driving in runs.

Gio Urshela hit a two-RBI single off Wilson's down-and-in sinker, Zach McKinstry hit a two-RBI single off Miller's down-and-away sweeper, and Andy Ibáñez hit an RBI single off Miller's middle-middle sinker, all before Jake Rogers hit a three-run home run to right field for a 10-0 advantage.

"Good at-bats," Rogers said. "We preach that every time, getting good at-bats and putting the barrel on the ball. That's all you can ask for. It's all you can ever ask for. Barrels after barrels score runs."

Rogers, a right-handed hitter who has five homers this season, pushed a sweeper from Miller — located middle-away but outside of the strike zone — to the opposite field.

Facing the Tigers, Wilson allowed seven runs on six hits and two walks with four strikeouts in 4⅓ innings.

Miller, meanwhile, never recorded an out in his 13-pitch appearance, forcing the Brewers to use right-handed reliever Elieser Hernández for the final two outs in the fifth inning.

"The ball was directed middle-oppo," Hinch said. "We weren't trying to necessarily leave the yard or get our best swing to lift the ball. It was solid at-bat after solid at-bat, good contact, a walk in there, controlling the strike zone. Why can't you do that all the time? Because it's hard. But I'm really happy with that inning to separate with one good at-bat after another."

ROOKIE WORK: Justyn-Henry Malloy brings patience at the plate and in personality to Detroit Tigers

Skubal diving

Skubal needed just 11 pitches to retire the first three batters.

All three batters struck out: Joey Ortiz (looking, 95.9 mph fastball), Rhys Hoskins (swinging, 86.7 mph changeup) and Christian Yelich (swinging, 88.9 mph changeup).

"You strike out the side, you give the offense momentum going into their side, and then they put up two runs," Skubal said. "That's the little momentum part of the game that, especially as a starter, you want to set the tone in the first."

Skubal worked around two singles in the second inning, two walks in the fourth inning and a single and a hit by pitch in the sixth inning before the Brewers finally scored with a single and a triple in the seventh inning.

In that inning, Jackson Chourio hit an infield single, and with two outs, Brice Turang bounced a triple down the first-base line that rolled into the right-field corner. The ball traveled long enough for Chourio to score from first base.

The RBI triple from Turang — which bounced past first baseman Mark Canha — trimmed the Brewers' deficit to 10-1 and ended Skubal's outing after 95 pitches. (The Brewers cut their deficit to 10-2 with a run off right-handed reliever Mason Englert in the ninth inning.)

Skubal generated 17 whiffs on 43 swings — a 39.5% whiff rate — with five fastballs, seven changeups, three sliders and two sinkers. His fastball averaged 96.2 mph, topping out at a career-high 101.7 mph on a foul in the third inning.

The Brewers had an 85.3 mph average exit velocity on 14 balls in play.

"I like to strike guys out," Skubal said. "I think every pitcher would say that, and if they say no, they're lying. I like to strike guys out, but how do you get there? You can't strike a guy out until you get to two strikes. I'm going to take my shot, but at the end of the day, I want to eat innings. I think there's a fine line between both those things."

Making plays

Center fielder Matt Vierling robbed Jake Bauers of a solo home run to open the eighth inning.

Bauers hit a fastball from left-handed reliever Joey Wentz, sending the ball 395 feet to right-center field, but Vierling jumped at the wall, stuck his glove beyond the wall and caught the ball.

Left fielder Riley Greene also had a spectacular catch in the fourth inning to save Skubal from at least one run. Chourio hit a line drive to left field with runners on the corners and two outs, but Greene dove toward the foul line and caught the ball.

Greene also robbed a home run in the seventh inning, saving Skubal again.

"It's fun to watch," Greene said of Skubal. "Whenever he's on the mound, he's got that presence. It's incredible. It almost fires you up as a defender behind him. That kind of fires us up and gives us momentum."

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

Listen to our weekly Tigers show "Days of Roar" every Monday afternoon on demand at freep.com, Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at freep.com/podcasts.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers avoid sweep with 10-2 rout of Milwaukee Brewers