The Detroit Tigers have set their lineup for one of the most unusual games they will play all season.

For the first time in his Major League career, Tarik Skubal will take the mound at Comerica Park as a visiting pitcher when the Los Angeles Dodgers open a three-game series against Detroit on Friday night.

The Tigers will counter with right-hander Drew Anderson, while manager A.J. Hinch is sticking with a familiar-looking batting order against the former Detroit ace.

Friday’s starting lineup against Skubal:

1. Gleyber Torres — 2B
2. Hao-Yu Lee — 3B
3. Kevin McGonigle — SS
4. Dillon Dingler — C
5. Eduardo Valencia — DH
6. Ben Malgeri — RF
7. Spencer Torkelson — 1B
8. Max Clark — CF
9. Javier Báez — LF

Starting pitcher: Drew Anderson

First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. ET at Comerica Park.

Tigers Stick With Their Familiar Formula

There is nothing particularly surprising about Hinch’s lineup.

Detroit has consistently used McGonigle near the top of the batting order, and there is little reason to change that approach simply because one of baseball’s best left-handed pitchers is standing on the other side.

McGonigle has established himself as Detroit’s most dependable hitter this season. The 22-year-old entered Friday batting .278 with a .379 on-base percentage and .802 OPS, numbers that help explain why Hinch continues putting him in positions where he can receive as many plate appearances as possible. His remarkable rookie season has also included 14 home runs, 56 RBIs and 84 runs scored.

That production has made McGonigle one of the central figures in a Tigers offense that has increasingly leaned on its young core.

He has also made it clear that Detroit’s clubhouse did not consider the season finished when the front office traded Skubal. McGonigle recently pushed back against those who wrote off the Tigers after the deadline, and Friday gives him perhaps the most difficult test possible against his former teammate.

Skubal Returns From the Other Dugout

The lineup itself may be routine.

The opponent certainly is not.

Detroit sent Skubal to Los Angeles for Zyhir Hope, River Ryan and Brady Smith at the beginning of August, ending the two-time defending American League Cy Young Award winner’s run with the only Major League organization he had known.

Now, less than a month later, the Tigers have to hit against him.

Skubal enters the night 8-7 with a 2.91 ERA overall this season. Through his first four starts with Los Angeles, he has posted a 3.38 ERA with 30 strikeouts over 24 innings.

Hinch acknowledged that the quick reunion carries considerably more emotion than an ordinary matchup.

“Obviously, it’s pretty weird to think about facing someone who was just in our clubhouse, and that’s the nature of the Trade Deadline. You know you can multiply it, because anything around Tarik is pretty extreme.

“I think everybody started mapping it out the day that he got traded and wondering how the rotation was going to hit. It’s going to be emotional all over again, but it’s part of it,” Hinch said.

That emotion figures to begin before Skubal throws his first pitch.

His return to Comerica Park has been one of the most anticipated games on Detroit’s remaining schedule, and the reception he receives from Tigers fans will likely be one of the defining moments of the night.

Once the game begins, however, sentiment becomes secondary.

Detroit has lost 10 of its last 12 games and enters the series at 62-71. The Dodgers arrive at 80-54 with Skubal now pitching for the other side.

For years, Tigers hitters watched from the dugout as Skubal attacked opposing lineups at Comerica Park.

Friday night, they finally get to experience it themselves.