DETROIT -- The Guardians did what they came to do when they landed in Detroit on Wednesday night.
They won the first three games of this four-game series to re-establish contact with the AL Central-leading Tigers. Asking them to beat Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal on Sunday to complete their first four-game sweep in Motown since 2017 would have been a bit too much.
Skubal made sure the ask was too big as he took a perfect game into the sixth inning to lead the Tigers to a 5-0 victory over the Guardians at Comerica Park.
In his first complete-game shutout of the season, Skubal struck out 13 on a two-hitter. The 13 strikeouts tied his career high.
The Guardians left Detroit trailing the Tigers by four games. When they landed in Detroit on Wednesday night, they were six games out.
Will Wilson ended Skubal's perfect game with a leadoff double in the sixth. José Ramírez added a single in the seventh to extend his hitting streak to 18 games and his on-base streak to 22 games.
The 18-game streak ties a career high for Ramírez.
Besides that, the Guardians didn't have much to talk about. Manager Stephen Vogt gave left fielder Steven Kwan his first day off this season as Angel Martinez batted leadoff and Nolan Jones started in left. Just before game time, designated hitter Carlos Santana was scratched with tightness in his left leg.
The way Skubal (5-2, 2.49) pitched, the presence of Kwan and Santana wouldn't have made much difference. The left-hander continually beat the Guardians with a high-velocity fastball just above the strike zone.
Cleveland's rotation went into Sunday's game with a 7-5 record and a 2.63 ERA in its last 23 games. Logan Allen (2-3, 4.31 ERA) put a dent in that Sunday as he allowed four earned runs, on six hits in 3 2/3 innings.
Allen pitched on the edge for the first three innings. He walked four, made an error, allowed a double to Spencer Torkelson and stranded five. But he kept the Tigers off the scoreboard.
That came to an end in the fourth when Detroit took a 5-0 lead, sending 10 men to the plate. It started with an infield single by Justyn-Henry Malloy and escalated quickly.
Zach McKinstry homered to left for a 2-0 lead. Javier Baez followed with a double, and Gleyber Torres made it 3-0 with a double of his own.
Andy Ibanez singled to left to score Torres, and took second on Jones' throw back to the infield. Riley Greene sent a bouncer to the third-base side of the mound. Allen fielded the ball, but made a low throw to first that Kyle Manzardo couldn't handle.
Ibanez scored ahead of Manzardo's throw to the plate to make it 5-0.
The last Cleveland pitcher to make two errors in a game was Emmanuel Clase on May 4 in Toronto.
The Guardians finished this trip through Cincinnati, Minneapolis and Detroit with a 4-5 record. They were swept in Cincinnati, split two water-logged games against the Twins and took three out of four against the Tigers.
The Guardians return home to face the Dodgers in a three-game series starting Monday at 6:10 p.m. at Progressive Field. RHP Gavin Williams (4-2, 3.94) will start for Cleveland, while RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto (5-3, 1.86) starts for the Dodgers. CLEGuardians.TV, WTAM 1100, WMMS 100.7 FM, WARF and the Guardians radio network will carry the game.