Detroit Tigers right-handed reliever Jason Foley hadn't allowed an earned run since the end of July. His streak of 18 games and 16 innings ended with two earned runs in the ninth inning of Thursday's series finale against the Colorado Rockies at Comerica Park.

The Tigers lost, 4-2.

They failed to extend their winning streak beyond four games, despite facing MLB's third-worst team.

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Left-hander Tarik Skubal, the frontrunner to win the American League Cy Young Award, allowed one run on four hits and zero walks with six strikeouts across six innings, throwing 84 pitches. A comebacker hit his non-throwing right hand in the sixth, but he finished the inning.

He has a 2.50 ERA in 29 starts.

With the loss, the Tigers (75-72) dropped to 3½ games behind the Minnesota Twins — a deficit of 4½ games when considering the tiebreaker — for the third and final AL wild-card spot, with 15 games remaining in the regular season.

In the ninth inning, Brendan Rodgers slapped Foley's sinker to right field for a leadoff single.

On the next pitch, catcher Dillon Dingler — forced into action as the result of a pinch-hitter for Jake Rogers in the previous inning — failed to catch an elevated fastball. The ball skipped off Dingler's glove, allowing Rodgers to take second base.

The Rockies took a 3-2 lead on Jacob Stallings' RBI double to right field, hitting Foley's two-strike slider. The ball bounced on the outfield grass and skipped past right fielder Matt Vierling, which allowed Rodgers to score easily from second.

Later on, the Rockies extended their lead to 4-2 on Jake Cave's sacrifice fly.

The Tigers threatened in the ninth inning with Colt Keith's one-out walk and Spencer Torkelson's two-out infield single to put runners on first and third. Zach McKinstry, though, struck out swinging to end the game.

Tarik Skubal starts

Skubal retired the first seven batters, but the eighth batter — rookie Jordan Beck — hit a two-strike hanging curveball for a solo home run with one out in the third inning, taking a 1-0 lead.

It was the only damage against Skubal.

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The 27-year-old worked around trouble in the fourth and fifth innings. In the fourth, he struck out Stallings with five fastballs in a row — with the final three after a mound visit from Rogers — to strand runners on the corners. In the fifth, Skubal stranded a runner with help from Riley Greene, who made a leaping catch in left field to rob Ezequiel Tovar of a two-run home run.

A scary moment happened in the sixth inning.

Skubal took a comebacker — 71 mph exit velocity — off his right hand, just below the base of his glove. He bobbled the ball and made an athletic catch with his left hand, but after the play, he dropped his glove to the mound and shook his right hand in pain.

Skubal walked to the edge of the infield grass in front of second base. He received a visit from manager A.J. Hinch and assistant athletic trainer Kelly Rhoades.

After a lengthy talk, Skubal threw a couple of warm-up pitches and stayed in the game. He completed the sixth inning but didn't return for the seventh.

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Spencer Torkelson's big swing

The Tigers were shut out until the fourth inning.

Torkelson fell into a two-strike count within the first two pitches against right-hander Ryan Feltner. There were two runners on base with two outs in the inning, thanks to Greene's single and Jace Jung's walk.

Instead of striking out, Torkelson took the next two pitches for balls to even the count, then fouled off back-to-back pitches. On the seventh pitch, Torkelson ripped Feltner's hanging curveball into the left-field corner for a two-run double and a 2-1 lead.

The Rockies tied the game, 2-2, on pinch-hitter Charlie Blackmon's infield single in the seventh inning, beating the on-the-run throw from second baseman Colt Keith. But left-handed reliever Sean Guenther kept the Rockies from taking the lead by retiring Tovar.

Guenther also retired the side in order in the eighth inning.

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

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers waste Tarik Skubal start in loss to Colorado Rockies