Miami — It wasn’t Friday the 13th, but apparently close enough.

The Tigers lost two starters in the first four innings of what ended up a dismal 8-2 loss to the Miami Marlins at LoanDepot Park.

One of those lost starters was lefty ace Tarik Skubal.

It had been an odd start for Skubal to begin with. He came into the game on a run of 14 straight scoreless innings. But he gave up three runs in the first two innings, including center-cut solo homers to Agustin Ramirez and Heriberto Hernandez.

In the fourth, he gave up a single and then, on his 45th pitch, got Eric Wagaman to fly out on a changeup.

After the pitch, FDSN cameras caught Skubal wincing and then rubbing his left rib or lat area. He got set to face the next hitter but stopped and motioned catcher Jake Rogers to the mound. Trainer Kelly Rhoades and manager AJ Hinch followed him out.

“My first instinct was, ‘Oh, s—,'” Rogers said.

Skubal, who remained stoic the whole time giving no hint of what he was feeling, left the game at that point.

“I asked him how he was and honestly, it seemed like a precautionary deal,” Rogers said.

In a sense it was. But it was also the first time Skubal ever pulled himself out of a game, so the concern remains high.

“Just a tightness,” Skubal said, motioning toward his upper left side. “Certain things happen during a game where you feel things. They come and go just with the game. This is one that didn’t go away. That’s what prompted me to call for AJ and the trainer.

“I wasn’t very comfortable letting it go. This time of year, with what we’ve got going forward, I don’t want to risk causing me to miss some real time.”

BOX SCORE: Marlins 8, Tigers 2

Skubal said he felt the tightness warming up before the fourth inning.

“It wasn’t getting worse, it just didn’t go away,” he said. “I didn’t feel like I could be myself, and if I’m not myself I don’t think I put our team in a good position to win.”

Skubal is expected to head back to Detroit for more tests.

“I’m obviously going to be optimistic,” he said. “I understand I took myself out of the game. I understand there is some sort of concern, right? But I’ve seen our trainers, done a lot of physical stuff and nothing really jumps out at me. So in that aspect, I’m optimistic about it.

“We’ll get some more information, probably some imaging just to see what’s there and maybe calm the brain down a little bit, too.”

In the second inning, Javier Báez left the game after fouling a pitch off his forehead.

The Tigers shortstop swung at a high changeup from Miami right-hander Sandy Alcantara. He opened up his shoulders early, exposing his face and the ball caromed off the top of his bat.

A knot formed immediately on his forehead, right between his eyes.

“That was scary,” Hinch said. “I’ve seen a guy foul a ball off his face before. I didn’t know where it hit him but it was right above the brow. He was conscious and talking. He wanted to stand up right away. Right now he’s day to day.”

It looked like Báez was having trouble seeing and was removed from the game. He walked off on his own power. He was not placed in concussion protocol. Báez said he would speak to the media on Saturday.

“I put our team in a bad spot there, coming off a bullpen game,” Skubal said. “That’s frustrating to me as a starting pitcher that I put our team in a bad spot not only today but for the rest of the series because a bunch of guys had to pitch today that shouldn’t have had to.

“Hopefully there’s nothing in there and we can stop talking about this as soon as possible.”

The Tigers managed just four hits off Alcantara, who seems to have worked himself back to his Cy Young form of 2022. One of the hits, though, was a 401-foot homer by Riley Greene. It was his 34th of the season.

Greene doubled Kerry Carpenter to third in the seventh and Carpenter scored on a two-out passed ball by catcher Ramirez.

Alcantara struck out eight in seven innings.

“Sandy was really good,” Hinch said. “We don’t see him a lot in person. But with that type of velo (97-99) and that type of uncomfortable at-bat, he was really making pitches. Just a difficult matchup.”

With the Tigers’ loss and the Guardians’ win against the White Sox, their lead in the Central Division is down to 7½ games.

“It was scary for everybody,” Hinch said of both injuries. “But you have to keep playing. Obviously, nobody likes to see their teammates go out. Everybody is wondering to what extent they are (injured). But the game goes on.”

chris.mccosky@detroitnews.com

@cmccosky

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