A sports betting site even seized on the moment and paid for an airplane to fly a \u201cTHE DODGERS RUINED BASEBALL\u201d banner over Wrigley Field a few hours before the game Tuesday \u2014 although it was upside down.<\/p>\n
As the boos quieted, he authored a quality start in his Dodgers<\/a> debut. But that wasn\u2019t enough to serve as the team\u2019s new stopper, as the Dodgers\u2019 offense fell flat. They stumbled to a 5-1 loss<\/a> and extended their skid to a season-high five games<\/a> and ensured a second straight series loss.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s certainly no panic,\u201d manager Dave Roberts said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been through a lot of these things, this core group of guys. 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. But it never feels good to lose.\u201d<\/p>\n The first pitch Skubal threw as a Dodger, en route to holding the Cubs to two runs and four hits in six innings, was a sinker that zipped through the top of the strike zone at 96.3 mph, according to Statcast, to get ahead in the count against Cubs MVP candidate Pete Crow-Armstrong.<\/p>\n For the next four pitches, he alternated between his four-seam fastball and off-speed pitches \u2014 first his changeup and then curveball. And to finish off the at-bat, he located a sinker at the bottom of the zone for a called strike three.<\/p>\n It was a strong first impression, and his first strikeout of six.<\/p>\n \u201cGoing to bed last night, excited,\u201d Skubal said. \u201cIt felt like my major-league debut, kind of same type of vibe in terms of the nerves running through. But I think that\u2019s all good stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n Skubal retired the first six batters he faced, with the help of a sliding catch by center fielder Andy Pages and a diving grab by right fielder Kyle Tucker.<\/p>\n To end the second inning, Skubal got new Cub Tyrone Taylor to chase a changeup just outside. Skubal skipped backward off the mound and buried his fist in the pocket of his glove in celebration.<\/p>\n The next inning, Skubal wavered ever so slightly. He gave up a first-pitch solo home run to Dansby Swanson. <\/p>\n \u201cI think everyone around the league and he himself would say he\u2019s an aggressive pitcher, he comes after you,\u201d Swanson told reporters. \u201c He likes to get strike one, he likes to get strike two. You\u2019ve just got to be ready to hit pitches he may leave over the plate, and he doesn\u2019t do that very often. He\u2019s been so good for a reason.\u201d<\/p>\n Then, after another sliding catch by Pages and a strikeout, he gave up a single to Crow-Armstrong and walked Seiya Suzuki.<\/p>\n In his first high-pressure situation of the night, Skubal induced Alex Bregman to fly out on a changeup.<\/p>\n Then, he was back to cruising. Skubal put together perfect fourth and fifth innings.<\/p>\n \u201cHe creates really tough angles,\u201d said catcher Ben Rortvedt, after his first game since the Dodgers reacquired him at the trade deadline. \u201cReally commands the glove side really well. And his off-speed is really good, his changeup is elite. It\u2019s two fastballs you can put on a dime. It\u2019s just really good stuff.\u201d <\/p>\n In the sixth, an unlucky bounce pushed the go-ahead run across the plate.<\/p>\n With one out, Skubal walked Suzuki on four pitches. Then he missed his spot with a fastball to Bregman, who roped a line drive to deep right field. Tucker tracked it back to the warning track but just missed the catch as he slammed into the wall. The double put runners on second and third.<\/p>\n Skubal held the Cubs at bay for one more batter by getting Michael Busch to skip a groundball to second baseman Tommy Edman, playing on the edge of the infield grass. He fired home for the second out of the inning.<\/p>\n Then came that dose of misfortune. Skubal\u2019s fastball did its job, as the Cubs\u2019 Nico Hoerner drove it into the ground. Bouncing off the plate, the ball shot up in the air, and then it settled in the grass, giving Bregman enough time to score the go-ahead run.<\/p>\n Ian Happ, left, Seiya Suzuki, middle, and Pete Crow-Armstrong run after beating the Dodgers.<\/p>\n (Melissa Tamez \/ AP)<\/p>\n The Wrigley faithful turned up the heat, taunting \u201cSkuuuuubaaaaalll.\u201d They\u2019d done something similar in the National League Division Series last year to Brewers ace Freddy Peralta.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fans are what create the environment,\u201d Skubal said. \u201cIt\u2019s a ton of fun to play in front of crowds like that. Even if they\u2019re booing me or whatever it is, I think that\u2019s what makes the game of baseball really fun, the competition really fun, and the atmosphere is really fun. I\u2019m sure that\u2019s not going to be the only rowdy atmosphere on the road. I plan on pitching in front of those atmospheres for the rest of the season, and then obviously, when it comes postseason time, I\u2019ll be ready to go.\u201d <\/p>\n Skubal bore down and got out of the inning with a flyout from Taylor. That changeup, designed to get him to chase, wrapped up Skubal\u2019s outing at 85 pitches.<\/p>\n \u201cFor me, I want him wanting for more, feeling good,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cThis is me still learning him. Where we\u2019re at, I\u2019m going to err on the side of being smart and cautious, and knowing that he can still give us more. I\u2019m going to push him, but tonight is not the night. I just felt that that extra inning wasn\u2019t worth the squeeze.\u201d<\/p>\n When Skubal walked off the mound, his team trailed 2-1, their only run a solo homer from Tucker, who\u2019d been booed throughout his first series back at Wrigley since departing the Cubs in free agency.<\/p>\n The Cubs, on the other hand, continued to rally against the Dodgers\u2019 bullpen.<\/p>\n \u201cJust a rut,\u201d veteran leader Mookie Betts said after the loss. \u201cIt\u2019s OK. We\u2019re going to be OK.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CHICAGO\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Southpaw Tarik Skubal\u2019s experience pitching in the Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field came with a hostile reception. Cubs…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":424206,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[51392,10952,163943,11585,426,10254,100918,423,48,52,51,47,50,49,169212,21949,169211,168309,30111,169210,108655],"class_list":["post-424205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-alex-bregman","tag-catch","tag-changeup","tag-cubs","tag-dodgers","tag-first-inning","tag-four-seam-fastball","tag-game","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-next-frame","tag-pitch","tag-quality-start","tag-skubal","tag-strike-zone","tag-team-debut","tag-wrigley-field"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=424205"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424205\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/424206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=424205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=424205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=424205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Ian](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1785908169_646_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n