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Tarik Skubal pitches in the first inning against the Cubs on Tuesday. (Melissa Tamez / AP)
Southpaw Tarik Skubal’s experience pitching in the Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field came with a hostile reception. Cubs fans booed him as he approached the bullpen gate in right field to warm up before the game. They jeered even louder and longer as he took the mound in the bottom of the first inning.
That’s what came with the “Los Angeles” scrawled across the chest of his new blue jersey. Over the weekend he’d gone from the top trade candidate in baseball, to a symbol of the Dodgers’ evil reign.
A sports betting site even seized on the moment and paid for an airplane to fly a “THE DODGERS RUINED BASEBALL” banner over Wrigley Field a few hours before the game Tuesday — although it was upside down.
As the boos quieted, he authored a quality start in his Dodgers debut. But that wasn’t enough to serve as the team’s new stopper, as the Dodgers’ offense fell flat. They stumbled to a 5-1 loss and extended their skid to a season-high five games and ensure a second straight series loss.
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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.
For the next four pitches, he alternated between his four-seam fastball and off-speed pitches — 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.
It was a strong first impression, and his first strikeout of six.
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.
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.
The next inning, Skubal wavered ever so slightly. He gave up a first-pitch solo home run to Dansby Swanson. Then, after another sliding catch by Pages and a strikeout, he gave up a single to Crow-Armstrong and walked Seiya Suzuki.
In his first high-pressure situation of the night, Skubal induced Alex Bregman to fly out on a changeup.
Read more:Dodgers Debate: The Dodgers will stop at nothing to win
Then, he was back to cruising. Skubal put together perfect fourth and fifth innings.
In the sixth, an unlucky bounce pushed the go-ahead run across the plate.
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.
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.
Then came that dose of misfortune. Skubal’s fastball did its job, as the Cubs’ Nico Hoerner drove it into the ground. But on the bounce, the ball shot up in the air, and then it settled in the grass, giving Bregman enough time to score the go-ahead run.
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Ian Happ, left, Seiya Suzuki, middle, and Pete Crow-Armstrong run after beating the Dodgers. (Melissa Tamez / AP)
The Wrigley faithful turned up the heat, taunting “Skuuuuubaaaaalll.” They’d done something similar in the National League Division Series last year to Brewers ace Freddy Peralta.
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’s outing.
His team trailed 2-1, their only run a solo homer from Tucker, who’d been booed throughout his first series back at Wrigley since departing the Cubs in free agency.
The Cubs, on the other hand, continued to rally against the Dodgers’ bullpen.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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