Tarik Skubal made his highly anticipated debut for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night at Wrigley Field, but the evening ended in a 5-1 loss to the Chicago Cubs. The defeat marked the fifth consecutive loss for the Dodgers, representing the team’s longest slide since early September of last year.
Skubal Debuts as Dodgers Skid Continues
Skubal, a two-time Cy Young Award winner acquired from the Detroit Tigers just two days before the Trade Deadline, allowed two runs on four hits across six innings. While he struck out six batters and walked two, he was charged with the loss. Skubal threw 85 pitches during the outing, 51 of which were strikes.
The atmosphere at Wrigley Field was hostile from the start, with fans booing Skubal during his warm-ups and lineup announcements. Going in and competing, I don’t expect anything else,
Skubal said regarding the environment. As far as environments, I’ve pitched in plenty of them. I haven’t actually made a home start in the postseason. They’ve all been on the road. I’ve pitched in pretty good environments, and I’d say that’s up there with any of those postseason starts.
Cubs Offense Caps Skubal’s Outing
Skubal began his tenure with the Dodgers by retiring the first six batters he faced, including a strikeout of Pete Crow-Armstrong on a 99.1 mph sinker. The Cubs broke through in the third inning when Dansby Swanson hit a solo home run.
The game remained tight until the bottom of the sixth inning. After Skubal walked Seiya Suzuki, a deep fly ball to right field by Alex Bregman was misplayed, resulting in a double. Although Tommy Edman and Ben Rortvedt combined to throw Suzuki out at home plate, the Cubs reclaimed the lead when Nico Hoerner hit a high infield chopper that allowed Bregman to score.
It’s a lot to handle, and you’ve got to kind of pick pitches at times,
Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. With the great ones, that’s what you have to do. You have to pick pitches. That’s kind of what Dansby did.
Following Skubal’s departure, the Cubs extended their lead in the seventh and eighth innings against the Dodgers’ bullpen, which included appearances by Alex Vesia, Evan Phillips, and Edwin Díaz. Hoerner capped the scoring with a solo home run off Díaz in the eighth.
Dodgers Struggle to Find Momentum
The Dodgers’ lone run came in the second inning on a solo home run by Kyle Tucker, his 10th of the season. Tucker, who signed a $240 million, four-year contract with Los Angeles as a free agent, was returning to Chicago after playing for the Cubs last season and faced boos from the crowd of 40,584 throughout the game.
Despite the acquisition of Skubal, the Dodgers have struggled recently, losing two straight to the Cubs after being swept by the Red Sox over the weekend. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts noted the need for the team to reset. I think that you just got to kind of reset, flush it, find a way to win a game and not let it just compound,
Roberts said. But it never feels good to lose. … My focus right now is just forget about these last five games and be ready for tomorrow.
The Dodgers will look to end their losing streak on Wednesday in the series finale, which features a pitching matchup between Eric Lauer and Chicago’s Shota Imanaga.
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