LOS ANGELES (AP) — Tarik Skubal yielded three runs on four hits while pitching five innings in the back-to-back Cy Young Award winner’s home debut for the Los Angeles Dodgers against Kansas City on Monday night.
Skubal left with the Dodgers trailing 3-2 after a decent, if unspectacular, first start in the home whites. Although he struck out six, Skubal didn’t live up to manager Dave Roberts’ pregame prediction of “an electric night” for the vaunted left-hander and his slumping club, which lost eight of nine heading into this homestand.
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Skubal needed 95 pitches and managed just one 1-2-3 inning against the Royals, with Jac Caglianone tagging him for a two-run homer and an RBI single. Skubal also issued two walks and hit a batter in just his second career appearance at Dodger Stadium, taking the mound nine days after the defending champions acquired him from Detroit in the biggest trade of the deadline.
Los Angeles gave up three promising prospects for what might be a short-term rental of the 29-year-old Skubal, who will reap the benefits of unrestricted free agency this winter.
Skubal made his Dodgers debut at Wrigley Field last Tuesday, pitching six innings of two-run, four-hit ball with six strikeouts in his new team’s 5-1 loss to the Chicago Cubs.
The back-to-back World Series champions had the prospects and the impetus to get out and get the back-to-back Cy Young Award winner — and Skubal’s reception at Chavez Ravine showed their fans still don’t take their deep-pocketed team’s winning mentality for granted.
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When Skubal was announced in the starting lineup, Dodgers fans responded with loud cheers and a serenade of “Skuuuuuu!”
“I think with great players, there’s very few things that are new to them, that get the nerviness or excitement, or whatever you want to call it, in them,” Roberts said. “And I think that making his first appearance in a home jersey at Dodger Stadium is doing that to Tarik. I think he’s very excited about tonight, and I think that energy is going to be translated into the stands, in the dugout. There’s kind of a buzz in the clubhouse.”
But after that warm pregame reception, Skubal yielded two soft singles and a run to Kansas City’s first three batters, with Bobby Witt Jr. stealing second and scoring on Caglianone’s dribbler up the middle.
Nick Loftin then doubled in the third before Caglianone hit his 21st homer of the season to right, smashing a hanging slider for a 410-foot shot that induced grumbles from the stands.
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Skubal retired six straight Royals after Caglianone’s shot, but he got into trouble again in the fifth, hitting Loftin and walking Witt with two outs. Skubal dug in and struck out Caglianone to end it, getting him with his signature changeup on his final pitch.
The Dodgers probably hoped for a more dominant beginning to Skubal’s career in blue, but they care most about the games he’ll pitch in October, when the champs expect to make their 14th consecutive playoff appearance.
Roberts is uncommonly impressed by his new left-hander after just over a week together.
“This guy, he’s as different as anyone I’ve ever been around in this short period of time,” Roberts said. “He’s special in every way. … He’s just built differently. The mind, the body, the focus, the humility, the willingness to serve, to help. He puts himself out there. He’s different than any player I’ve ever been around, really. Again, it’s a small sample, but I’ve dug in on him. I got a pretty good gut. This guy is something like I’ve never seen.”
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The start was Skubal’s 18th of the season and just his 11th since he missed a month and a half following elbow surgery, theoretically leaving him fresher for the challenges ahead in the pennant race.
The Dodgers’ injury-plagued rotation gets more help Tuesday when two-time Cy Young winner Blake Snell comes off the shelf to make only his second start of the season.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB
