Detroit Tigers manager A.J. Hinch talked to left-hander Tarik Skubal in the dugout before the seventh inning of Friday's game against the Kansas City Royals at Comerica Park.

"What's the plan here?" Skubal asked.

Hinch instructed right-handed reliever Shelby Miller to warm up in case Skubal needed help taking down Maikel Garcia or Bobby Witt Jr., a pair of right-handed hitters at the top of the Royals' lineup. Skubal retired Paul DeJong, but Dairon Blanco and Garcia hit back-to-back singles with one out in the seventh inning, so he wasn't allowed to face Witt.

"He gave me Maikel," Skubal said, "and I didn't get him out. That's why I wasn't given that at-bat."

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The Tigers lost, 9-2, but the moment that seemed to change the trajectory of Friday's game happened with one out in the seventh, when Hinch removed Skubal in favor of Miller for a matchup with one of the most dangerous hitters in baseball.

At the time, the Tigers trailed 3-2.

"The considerations are always tough," Hinch said.

By the end of the seventh, it was 9-2.

"I told him I had help for him at Garcia or Witt," Hinch said. "I wanted to give him a chance to get Garcia. He could've got a double play. He could've punched him. The base hit chased him from the game. You know, Shelby's strength is the fastball up. It's the one area you have a shot at with Witt. He yanks it down, and off they go."

Facing Miller, not Skubal, Witt loaded the bases with an infield single on an elevated fastball way above the strike zone. The next batter, Vinnie Pasquantino, sent Miller's first-pitch fastball to left field for a two-run single, making it 5-2.

Before that, Skubal had retired Witt in three straight matchups.

Witt popped out to the first baseman in foul territory in the first inning, struck out swinging on four fastballs in a row in the third inning and grounded out to the shortstop in the fifth inning.

"Bringing in a guy in that situation, he's 0-for-3 off me," Skubal said, "so let's give him another look and hopefully go 0-for-4, but it's just not what happened, so that's part of the game."

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In the third, Skubal capped his swinging strikeout of Witt with a 99.2 mph four-seam fastball.

It was his second-fastest fastball of the game.

"He's a great player," Skubal said of Witt. "It was just about pitch execution. I thought I did a good job that at-bat. I felt like he was late on every fastball, so that's why we kept going back to that."

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Skubal allowed five earned runs on seven hits and two walks with eight strikeouts across 6⅓ innings in Friday's start against the Royals, throwing 97 pitches. It was his first time allowing more than four earned runs since in July 18, 2023.

Skubal, 27, owns a 2.57 ERA with 26 walks and 162 strikeouts across 136⅓ innings in 22 starts; Witt, 24, is hitting .348 with 31 doubles, 10 triples, 20 home runs, 34 walks and 76 strikeouts in 111 games, along with 25 stolen bases in 35 attempts.

They played together on the American League team in the 2024 All-Star Game. In the final two months of the season, Skubal is a top candidate to win the AL Cy Young Award, whereas Witt is a top candidate to win the AL MVP.

"I got to know him a little bit," Witt said. "He's a good dude. He's a competitor. It's always fun to have a battle against him."

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

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Why Detroit Tigers' Tarik Skubal didn't face Bobby Witt Jr. a 4th time