DETROIT — The bases were loaded in the fifth inning when one of baseball’s most ferocious aces reminded everyone of the edge and aura he brings.With his team’s season teetering and another game on the verge of slipping away, Tarik Skubal twirled a masterful changeup past the whiffing bat of Colson Montgomery. The strikeout ended the inning and left Skubal unleashing one of his patented booming yells.Escaped from doom, Skubal quickly pointed into the Chicago White Sox dugout. He began jawing, apparently toward injured Chicago pitcher Mike Vasil.“I was up there on the top step and helping the team out, cheering them on,” Vasil told reporters after the game. “Next thing I know, I’m getting reamed out.”Can you 'Name that Dude'?Derek VanRiper and Eno SarrisThe players went back and forth with their verbal barbs. Skubal strode off the field. When he reached the Detroit Tigers’ dugout, he turned and let loose a few more words. Umpires spoke with both managers to keep the peace.“I think it was some pretty choice words,” Vasil said, “and then I shared back some choice words. It was good stuff.”In the moment, it was difficult to discern what was said or what exactly sparked the tension. But it was a warm summer night. A division rival in town. Skubal on the hill. Nelly was in the house for a postgame concert. And the Tigers (31-44) are fighting for their lives every game.Perhaps it’s only natural that the Tigers’ ace found a reason to let his fire burn. He’s the type who thrives most when he feels aggrieved.“We know where we’re at, and what that brings is a ton of emotion in itself,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “Usually, you can multiply it with Tarik.”After the game, Hinch said he did not know the source of the commotion. “I can’t hear anything by the dugout,” he said. Skubal also declined to address the matter in any specifics.“I’m a competitive guy,” Skubal said. “I kind of wear my emotions out there, and that’s part of how I play the game. I think that’s just baseball. … It is what it is. It happened. It’s over with.”Whatever the beef, the White Sox enacted a form of revenge in the sixth inning, when right fielder Junior Perez blasted an elevated Skubal changeup for the first home run of his MLB career. The swing put the White Sox ahead 3-2. Skubal’s day ended after 5 2/3 innings and 94 pitches. In his second start back from the injured list, Skubal surrendered seven hits and three earned runs. He also walked one batter and struck out eight.For once, though, Skubal’s teammates were the ones picking him up. The Tigers responded in the bottom of the sixth. With two runners on, Kerry Carpenter blooped a ball to center. White Sox outfielder Tristan Peters got a bad read and then made an ill-advised dive. The ball bounced past him. Two runs scored on a play that felt like a reverse of the cosmic fate that has so often gone against the Tigers this season. Detroit’s bullpen held on for a 4-3 victory, and at this point, every win feels like an accomplishment.As Skubal said after the game, “We’re fighting tooth and nail for every win we can get.”Skubal showed more potent command than in his first start back from surgery, when he lasted only 4 2/3 innings and surrendered two earned runs. He also fell victim to a first-inning home run from Randal Grichuk on a two-strike changeup, plus several other pesky swings from the White Sox in two-strike counts.This was not Skubal’s most pristine outing. It was also the most pitches he has thrown since April 23.“I felt like this was the first start that I’ve had this year where I felt like I kind of ran out of gas a little bit late in the game,” Skubal said. “And that’s good. I think that’s great for me in terms of building my volume to where, a couple starts from now, I feel like I’m healthy and ready to go.”Perhaps more importantly, a Tigers team trying to battle back against the odds and avoid a trade deadline sell-off seemed to channel some of Skubal’s venomous edge. For most of Skubal’s absence, the Tigers played toothless. The Gritty Tigs magic of 2024 has slowly fizzled, and with each loss over the past six weeks, signs of that fighting spirit seemed to dwindle. But the Tigers got a couple of the right breaks Friday. Matt Vierling, the struggling outfielder, hit a home run and made a stellar catch at the center-field wall. Riley Greene booked it around the bases to score on Carpenter’s bloop. Kenley Jansen, also recently back from the IL, recorded his first save since May 10.And in that vein, seeing Skubal jaw at the opposing dugout and energize the crowd was a welcome sight. The Tigers are a different team with him on the mound.“His intensity always fires us up,” Carpenter said. “It was no different tonight. I don’t know exactly what was going on, but we got Skub’s back. I know he has our back. So it’s pretty fun to play behind him.”If Friday’s game was a B-grade performance from Skubal, any team would take it. His fastball averaged 96.7 mph (down from 97.9 in his first outing back), but his command was improved.His overall execution is still rounding back to elite form. But neither Skubal nor Hinch seemed to harbor any concern.“Obviously, (he) was much sharper in the game than he was in his last start,” Hinch said. “I think he’s going to get even better as we get to five, six days from now.”If anything, the impact of Skubal’s absence in May was highlighted all over again.Friday night, Skubal brought the edge.His teammates responded accordingly.“His presence matters to the team,” Hinch said. “We missed it when it was gone.”