DETROIT (Interstat) — Tarik Skubal struck out nine over five innings and Colt Keith delivered a two-run homer in the first, carrying the Detroit Tigers to a 6-2 victory over the Athletics on Tuesday night at Comerica Park.

The Tigers snapped a three-game losing streak and improved to 41-50, matching the Athletics’ record. Detroit scored two in the first and broke the game open with a four-run sixth inning.

Skubal, who allowed one run on five hits and walked one, earned his fifth win against four losses. He threw 72 pitches, 52 for strikes, and kept the Athletics off balance after a solo home run by Henry Bolte in the third. Skubal struck out the side in the first inning, fanning Zack Gelof, Nick Kurtz and Shea Langeliers on 12 pitches.

The Tigers gave him an immediate lead. Kevin McGonigle drew a leadoff walk against Athletics starter J.T. Ginn, and Keith followed by launching a 1-1 fastball to right-center field for his seventh homer of the season, making it 2-0.

Ginn settled in after that, retiring the next three batters in the first and working around an error in the third. He allowed two runs on two hits over four innings, striking out four and walking two. The loss dropped Ginn to 7-5.

The Athletics cut the deficit in half in the third when Bolte connected on a 2-2 pitch and sent it over the left-field wall for his third home run of the season. Bolte finished 1-for-3.

Skubal responded by retiring seven of the next eight hitters he faced, striking out four more. He left after the fifth inning with a 2-1 lead, having allowed only one earned run.

The Tigers broke the game wide open in the sixth against reliever Jacob Lopez. Zach McKinstry walked and Spencer Torkelson singled to put runners at the corners. Ben Malgeri, batting for James Outman, doubled to right field, scoring McKinstry and sending Torkelson to third. Matt Vierling followed with a double to right that scored Torkelson and Malgeri, extending the lead to 5-1. Kevin McGonigle singled sharply to center, plating Vierling for a 6-1 advantage.

The Athletics got one back in the seventh. Bolte was hit by a pitch, and Gelof struck out. Kurtz reached on a fielding error by second baseman Hao-Yu Lee, putting runners at first and second. Langeliers singled to center, scoring Bolte and sending Kurtz to second. Jonah Heim was hit by a pitch to load the bases, but Jacob Wilson struck out looking to end the threat.

Jacob Waguespack pitched two perfect innings in relief for Detroit, striking out one. Kyle Finnegan allowed one hit in a scoreless sixth, and Drew Anderson worked the ninth, allowing one hit and striking out two.

Elvis Alvarado pitched a scoreless seventh for the Athletics, striking out three, but the Tigers added two more hits in the eighth and stranded two runners.

The Tigers’ bullpen retired the final seven Athletics batters in order.

Detroit finished with eight hits. Keith went 1-for-2 with the homer and two RBIs. Vierling drove in two runs and Malgeri added an RBI double. McGonigle had two hits and an RBI.

The Athletics managed seven hits. Joshua Kuroda-Grauer had two hits, and Bolte homered. The loss extended the Athletics’ skid to four games after they were swept at home by the Miami Marlins over the weekend.

The Athletics dropped to 41-50 with the loss, while the Tigers improved to 41-50. Attendance was 28,736. The game lasted 2 hours, 46 minutes.

The two teams meet again Wednesday in the second game of the three-game series. The Athletics then travel to Chicago to face the White Sox, while the Tigers host the Philadelphia Phillies.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Detroit 5, Athletics 3, and its ELO system gave the Tigers a 58.00 percent probability to win. Detroit was installed as a pregame favorite by 1.5 runs, and the total of eight runs went under the over-under line of 7.5.