Detroit Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal, one of the best pitchers in baseball, was punched in the mouth in the first inning Saturday, as Royce Lewis cranked a first-pitch slider for a two-run home run.

Skubal, though, responded like an ace.

“Giving up two in the first, I’ve done that a lot?” Skubal said. “Unfortunately, I have. In ’21, I gave up a lot of runs in the first inning, so it’s learning experiences. There’s a ton of growth to be had, even three years ago, that you can take into today’s game.”

LET’S MAKE A DEAL: What Tigers could get from Orioles, Dodgers in Tarik Skubal, Jack Flaherty trades

Skubal mowed down the Minnesota Twins throughout the rest of his seven-inning start, leading the Tigers to a 7-2 win Saturday in the second of three games in the series at Comerica Park.

The Tigers (52-54) have won 13 of their past 19 games.

“Do you think I think about the future?” manager A.J. Hinch said. “I do in my own way, but not in the moment. In the moment, we’re trying to win the game. I love what we’re building here, but I want to stop talking about building. I want to win every game. What we’re witnessing with Tarik is just scratching the surface on what he can do.”

Skubal, the favorite to win the American League Cy Young Award with a2.35 ERA through 21 starts, allowed two runs on five hits and two walks with eight strikeouts across seven innings, throwing 96 pitches.

The Tigers drew 35,138 fans on Saturday night.

“What an environment,” Skubal said, when asked about crowf. “I don’t know how many people were there tonight, but it was a great environment, and it was great last night, and I look forward to playing in front of the fans like this again tomorrow — and winning a series. It was awesome.”

The Tigers also received a boost from Javier Báez, who hit a home run for in third consecutive game. He padded a one-run lead with a two-run homer — his third homer in a stretch of 11 plate appearances — in the seventh inning, turning on a middle-in fastball from right-handed reliever Brock Stewart.

Báez had one homer in his first 229 plate appearances.

“I love it,” Skubal said. “I love Javy, everything about him. He plays the game hard. I’ve always admired that about him. Ground ball, he’s running it 90 feet pretty hard no matter how he feels. I got a ton of respect for that player.”

The homer from Báez extended the Tigers’ lead to 5-2. Still in the seventh, the Twins replaced Stewart with left-handed reliever Steven Okert for a left-on-left matchup with rookie Colt Keith.

Keith greeted Okert by unloading on an inside sinker for a two-run home run to right field. He has 11 homers in 95 games, with his latest homer putting the Tigers ahead, 7-2.

It was Keith’s first homer against a left-handed pitcher in his MLB career.

“It’s been tough because I never really face them as much,” Keith said. “It’s been inconsistent. But I feel like, when I’m feeling good, I’m able to hit anybody. Hopefully, I just keep getting at-bats against them, and I can build on that as we go.”

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Tarik Skubal stars

In the first inning, Skubal allowed a leadoff single to Manuel Margot on his second pitch of the game.

Then, Lewis crushed Skubal’s slider that hung around at the bottom of the strike zone for a two-run home run to left-center field with one out in the first inning.

Just like that, the Twins grabbed a 2-0 lead.

“A bloop and a blast,” Skubal said. “That happens in this game. My command, my execution, was really bad for probably the first two or three innings, too. Just continuing to attack guys, even though you know it’s not going exactly the way you want to, and then you’ll just kind of find it, and that’s what happened.”

Skubal allowed three of five hits in the first inning. After the first, the only other hits came from Jose Miranda in the fourth inning and Carlos Santana in the sixth inning.

In the fourth, Skubal retired the next three batters to strand Miranda: Santana (strikeout), Willi Castro (strikeout) and Ryan Jeffers (flyout). In the sixth, Skubal struck out Miranda to open the inning before avoiding trouble after Santana’s one-out single by striking out Castro and getting Jefers to line out.

Skubal issued both walks with one out in the fifth inning, but Byron Buxton struck out and Lewis flew out to strand the runners. He struck out Buxton with a mix of fastballs and changeups.

“That happens in this sport,” Skubal said. “Just don’t let it impact the next pitch, and I felt like I did a good job of that.”

He generated 13 whiffs on 52 swings — a 25% whiff rate — with three fastballs, two sinkers and eight changeups. The Twins entered Saturday with the best offense in baseball against left-handed pitchers, posting a .784 OPS.

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The Detroit Tigers have reportedly been fielding calls on right-hander Jack Flaherty entering the trade deadline. Flaherty, who took a one-year, $14 million prove-it deal with the Tigers, should be one of the hottest names on the market this offseason.

With him hitting free agency at the end of the year, moving him at the deadline doesn’t seem like a bad idea. Sure, they have a chance to make the postseason, but if a team wants to give up solid prospects in return, why not capitalize on that? The postseason, at this point, is still somewhat of a pipedream.

If Detroit ends up trading him, they should only do so if they get back a package they’re comfortable with. If not, they should continue to let him show his worth and pay him in the offseason.

He’s pitched better than a No. 3, but even if he regresses a bit, the Tigers could have an excellent mid-level rotation arm if they re-signed him for the foreseeable future.

Despite the reasons to keep him, the chances of him being traded seem high. The question now is more of where he’s going to be traded.

Bradford Doolittle of ESPN believes he found a spot, urging the Los Angeles Dodgers to trade for the California native.

“If they were all healthy, the Dodgers wouldn’t need a starting pitcher. But when was the last time their rotation had anything approaching full health? They need some certainty for this group as they begin to think about postseason roster construction.

“Flaherty, a SoCal native, has thrown like an ace this season for Detroit, matching a career-best strikeout rate with a career-low walk rate, and he has been consistent. He also has a lot to prove after things went south in Baltimore when he was dealt at last year’s deadline, especially since he’s in a walk year. Talent, motivation and production is a pretty good combo.”

When talking about trading with the Dodgers, it’s important to recognize the type of talent they have in their farm system. With multiple high-level prospects, there might not be a better team in baseball to trade with.

Factor in that Los Angeles is in a win-now situation, and the chances of them even overpaying for a rental arm could be high.

His 2.95 ERA and 133 strikeouts in 106 2/3 innings pitched should have contending teams flooding Detroit’s phones. Whether it’s the Dodgers or any other team, taking the best package should be the priority.

The Brooklyn Nets are adding to their roster, signing point guard Killian Hayes to a one-year deal.

Hayes, who turns 23 years old today, was the No. 7 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft by the Detroit Pistons, but his tenure with the franchise wasn’t very successful.

He played in just 26 games for the Pistons in his first season, failing to convince the team that he could be the point guard of the future. The Pistons then drafted Cade Cunningham with the No. 1 pick the following year, and that sent Hayes’ career on a difficult path.

While Hayes still had chances to shine for the Pistons, it was clear that he was not going to be part of Detroit’s long-term plans. In the middle of this past season, the Pistons decided to cut ties early and waive him.

So, why are the Nets taking a shot on him? But perhaps the more appropriate question should be “why not?”

The Nets are a team not focused as much on results this season as much as development, and Hayes is a player who could use some developing. Hayes had enough potential to be a top-10 pick just four years ago, and he’s young enough to where he can still learn and grow in the NBA.

The move holds very little risk for the Nets, who could still benefit if Hayes begins to look more like the lottery pick he was when he was coming into the league. Worst case scenario? Hayes doesn’t play and the Nets are wasting a roster spot. If he plays and he continues to be a subpar player, then the Nets were going to be bad anyway.

Either way, the Nets only have something to gain with this move, making it a positive one.

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