The Los Angeles Dodgers won the Tarik Skubal trade-deadline sweepstakes, and the southpaw did not disappoint in his Dodgers debut. However, even Skubal couldn’t keep the Dodgers from dropping their fifth consecutive game.
With a 5-1 loss to the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday night, Los Angeles has now lost five straight for the first time since Sept. 2-6, 2025.
Making his first career start at historic Wrigley Field, Skubal looked every bit like a pitcher who could be a force in the postseason, allowing four hits and two runs over 6.0 innings against the Cubs. He threw 85 pitches, with 51 going for strikes.
However, thanks in large part to a quiet Dodger offense, Skubal still took the loss, his first since July 12 when he gave up four hits and two runs over 5.0 innings against the Philadelphia Phillies in Detroit.
While he may have had some issues with the Cubs in the past (posting a 4.12 ERA in 19.2 innings over three starts against them), Skubal was in command for the majority of the time on Tuesday.
With a national television audience watching on TBS and plenty of fans voicing their opinions (even in unique ways) about Skubal’s trade to the Dodgers, the two-time American League Cy Young Award winner was impressive. He started the night by striking out Pete Crow-Armstrong and finished the first two innings by whiffing three of the six batters he faced.
However, Skubal made a mistake to Dansby Swanson in the third inning that ended up in the left field bleachers to tie the game 1-1.
