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Detroit Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal will try for his major-league-leading 17th victory when he takes the mound in the opener of a three-game series against the host Oakland Athletics on Friday evening.

Skubal (16-4, 2.51 ERA) is tied with the Atlanta Braves’ Chris Sale for the most wins in the majors. He is second behind Sale (2.46) in ERA and tied with the San Diego Padres’ Dylan Cease for the second-most strikeouts (201), trailing only Sale (206).

Skubal won his past two outings and four of the past five. He most recently allowed one run and four hits over a career-high eight innings in a 2-1 win against the Boston Red Sox on Saturday.

“He’s probably the best pitcher in the American League right now,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “This guy, we saw him in spring training, and we knew he was going to have a big year, and that was a statement game for him. He should probably win the Cy Young.”

Tigers first baseman Spencer Torkelson said of Skubal, according to the Detroit News, “He’s unbelievable. It’s not only his stuff. It’s the conviction behind it. The intent and the confidence he has every single pitch he throws. You can really look up to somebody like that. He sets the tone. It builds character in our pitching staff and even in the position players.”

The Tigers (71-70) will come in on a high note after a dramatic win on Thursday. Parker Meadows hit a grand slam with two outs in the top of the ninth against the San Diego Padres, and Detroit held on for a 4-3 victory to avoid a sweep in the three-game series. The Tigers are five games back of the final American League wild-card spot.

Skubal has made seven starts against the A’s in his career and is 3-2 with a 2.52 ERA. He faced Oakland on April 5 and allowed four runs and four hits in 6 1/3 innings and did not receive a decision. Skubal struck out nine and walked two.

The A’s are coming off a four-game split against the visiting Seattle Mariners.

Oakland (61-80) won the first two games of the series but then lost 16-3 on Wednesday and 6-4 on Thursday, allowing the Mariners to also pull within five games of the final AL wild-card position.

Brent Rooker hit two more home runs for the A’s on Thursday to give him 35 this season.

“Similar to last year, my homers always tend to come in bunches,” Rooker said. “That’s been a constant throughout my entire career. What I’ve done a better job of this year is in between those spurts of slugging, I’ve done a good job of being able to piece base hits together and take some walks.”

The A’s plan to start Mitch Spence (7-9, 4.50 ERA) on Friday. The rookie right-hander has struggled to pitch deep into games, but he has thrown the ball well lately.

He allowed one run and five hits in 5 1/3 innings in Oakland’s 5-4 win against the Cincinnati Reds on Aug. 27, then yielded two runs and five hits in five innings as the A’s fell 6-4 in 10 innings to the Texas Rangers on Sunday. He did not receive a decision in either game.

Spence has not faced the Tigers during his brief major league career.

–Field Level Media