Tarik Skubal struck out a season-high 12 in 7 1/3 innings as the host Detroit Tigers edged the Kansas City Royals 2-1 on Friday night.

Skubal, who is headed to free agency, has been the subject of massive speculation over whether the Tigers will deal him before the Aug. 3 trade deadline. The two-time defending AL Cy Young Award winner delivered arguably his best outing of the season in what could have been his final home start with Detroit.

Skubal (7-5) gave up one run and four hits with two walks. Kenley Jensen got the last three outs for his 12th save in 16 chances.

Hao-Yu Lee had two hits and an RBI in the Tigers’ third straight victory.

The Royals’ Noah Cameron limited Detroit to two hits, struck out eight and walked three in seven innings.

The Tigers scored two first-inning runs against Kansas City opener Beck Way (1-1). Colt Keith reached on an infield single and moved up on a Gleyber Torres single. Dillon Dingler was hit by a pitch, loading the bases with no out.

Riley Greene hit a long fly ball to left that Isaac Collins snared with a leaping grab as Keith scored on the sacrifice fly. After a short flyout, Lee ripped a single to center to score Torres.

Kansas City had a threat going into the third after Skubal retired the first six batters. Collins led off with a double and Michael Massey drew a walk. After a sacrifice moved up both runners, Skubal struck out Carter Jensen and Lane Thomas.

The Royals got to Skubal in the fourth. Salvador Perez led off with an opposite-field double and advanced to third on a groundout. With two down, Nick Loftin smacked a double to left to bring home Perez.

Lee had a two-out double in the sixth but Zach McKinstry lined out to end the inning.

Skubal got into another jam in the seventh. Loftin walked with one out and Massey doubled to right with two outs, but Loftin had to hold up at third after right fielder Ben Malgeri quickly retrieved the ball. Skubal then retired Tyler Tolbert on a short fly ball.

–Field Level Media

Los Angeles FC will hope Son Heung-Min’s resurgent form continues on Saturday when they host a Sporting Kansas City side that is quietly improving following an awful start to the season.

Son has scored in back-to-back matches since LAFC (9-5-3, 30 points) returned from the World Cup break after he failed to find the net at all before the 2026 tournament.

But he has remained an important part of the Black-and-Gold’s attack as a provider. He still leads MLS with 10 assists. And now the scoring is coming too, like his excellent opener from distance in LAFC’s 3-1 home victory over Real Salt Lake on Wednesday night.

“Last season, when he arrived, a lot of his shots would go through the legs of a defender and into a corner,” explained LAFC manager Marc Dos Santos. “And then in the beginning of this year, the first part of the season, everything was getting blocked. … And now in the last two games, the shots were good, and he was able to finish. But (I was) always a big believer in what he gives to the team and how he helps the team.”

Son’s 10th assist of the season came after his opening goal, setting up Denis Bouanga for his team-leading eighth goal.

The win over RSL was LAFC’s third straight, following a run of four consecutive defeats in all competitions as the Black-and-Gold balanced MLS play with the Concacaf Champions Cup.

Meanwhile, Dejan Joveljic scored his team-leading eighth goal early and Manu Garcia added a second shortly after halftime in Sporting Kansas City’s 2-1 home win over Minnesota United on Wednesday night.

After a dreadful start, in which SKC (4-10-2, 14 points) went 1-8-2 in MLS play while being outscored 32-8, manager Raphael Wicky’s side have won three of their last five, with the two defeats in that stretch coming by a single goal.

They’ve also shown urgency in addressing their defensive weakness, signing Emir Karic and Moises Mosquera early in the summer transfer window.

“We’re growing,” Wicky said Wednesday. “We had a very bad period in April, which was very, very bad and very hard for various reasons, but I feel we came back from that before the World Cup and we grew. Now we keep building.”

–Field Level Media

New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto experienced left calf soreness and was replaced during a home game against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night.

The slugger was given Wednesday off to help him recover from a calf issue. He was in the lineup batting second Friday as the designated hitter, and he walked in both of his plate appearances.

Jorge Polanco pinch-hit for Soto in the bottom of the sixth inning, striking out on a foul tip.

Soto, 27, is batting .283 this season with 21 home runs and 52 RBIs.

–Field Level Media