The much-discussed and ballyhooed Dodgers acquisition of Tarik Skubal happened this past weekend ahead of the trade deadline. Tuesday, Skubal made his Dodgers debut against playoff-caliber competition in the Cubs, who entered the game 64-49 overall, holding onto the top NL Wild Card spot. 

The Cubs would win this one, 5-1, sending the Dodgers, now 69-45, to a season-high five-game losing streak.

Skubal took the loss, but this was hardly all his fault. He had a good outing overall, giving up two earned runs on four hits in six innings with six strikeouts and two walks. He didn’t seem to have a great feel for his breaking stuff early, but he overpowered a few hitters and got some good outfield defense as well. He froze Pete Crow-Armstrong to strike out the first batter he faced as a Dodgers pitcher.

The first run allowed was a solo home run from Dansby Swanson that was a no-doubter. There isn’t really much to analyze there. It was Swanson’s 17th home run of the year and the conditions were ripe for a homer or two on this night. He just beat Skubal. 

The second run is difficult to fully place at Skubal’s feet. To start the sixth, he struck out Crow-Armstrong before Seiya Suzuki drew a walk. Alex Bregman then hit a deep fly to right field that very well could have been caught going into the wall, but Kyle Tucker missed it. It wasn’t ruled an error, as he whiffed on it. It would’ve been a very tough play, but a lot of MLB right fielders make it. 

The Dodgers aren’t the biggest villains in the Tarik Skubal trade — the cowardly teams who let it happen are

Matt Snyder

With runners on second and third, Skubal got two straight grounders. One ended up with Suzuki being thrown out at home. The next one was actually a ball that bounced absurdly high, getting over Skubal’s head and hanging there long enough for an infield hit to plate the go-ahead run for the Cubs. 

Skubal finished the night allowing just two balls to be hit hard — the Swanson homer and Bregman’s double. The other hits were a Crow-Armstrong single to right and that Hoerner infield job. 

That’s a solid Dodgers debut for Skubal, even if we can’t call it dominant. He got 13 whiffs on 43 swings, escaped a jam in the third and nearly got out of one in the sixth. 

The biggest problem for Skubal was the lack of offensive support. Tucker homered in the second and that was it while Skubal was in the game. Cubs starter Javier Assad navigated traffic a few times but got two double plays from his excellent infield and also pitched very well. 

The Cubs would tack on two in the seventh with a Swanson double coming before a Crow-Armstrong single. Crow-Armstrong would then steal second before Suzuki drove him home. Meantime, the Cubs’ bullpen held the Dodgers’ offense in check, including a spotless eighth from newly-acquired Ryan Zeferjahn. Hoerner then went deep in the bottom of the eighth to make it 5-1. 

The biggest takeaways here from the Dodgers’ perspective are that Skubal generally looked very good overall, there’s a little room for improvement and the rest of the team could have played better. They’ve now lost five straight games and are 10-14 since July 3.