Detroit Tigers starter Tarik Skubal leaves game after being hit in leg by line drive

CLEVELAND — Detroit Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal departed Friday's start after a line drive ricocheted off his leg.

The 25-year-old threw a second-pitch 89.6 mph slider to Ernie Clement with two outs in the fifth inning. The ball — hit with a 100.4 mph exit velocity — drilled Skubal in the leg and knocked him to the ground. The play ended in a forceout.

Although Skubal quickly bounced to his feet, he limped to the dugout and entered the clubhouse with a trainer. He did not return, finishing his outing with five scoreless innings and five strikeouts on 66 pitches.

The severity of his potential injury is unclear.

Skubal has pitched 19 consecutive scoreless innings, lowering his ERA to 2.22 across eight starts this season. He has allowed eight walks and recorded 50 strikeouts in 44⅔ innings.

The Tigers have six injured starting pitchers: Skubal, Eduardo Rodriguez (left-side discomfort), Casey Mize (right elbow sprain), Matt Manning (right shoulder inflammation), Michael Pineda (right middle finger fracture) and Tyler Alexander (left elbow sprain).

Also, Spencer Turnbull is still recovering from Tommy John surgery.

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold. Read more on the Detroit Tigers and sign up for our Tigers newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers' Tarik Skubal departs after hit in leg by line drive