SAN FRANCISCO –– In his final tune-up of the regular season, Tarik Skubal looked like a well-oiled machine.
After looking good, but not often great, in his first couple months with the Dodgers, the team’s marquee trade deadline acquisition tapped back into his two-time Cy Young-winning form on Friday night, carving up the San Francisco Giants in a 2-0 win that could portend big things in the playoffs.
During his scoreless seven-inning start, Skubal struck out 10 batters and allowed just three hits. He didn’t issue a walk. He hardly even looked stressed during an uber-efficient 75-pitch domination.
In his entire MLB career, the only time he posted a better stat line might have been in his lone complete-game shutout last year against the Cleveland Guardians.
The Dodgers, of course, didn’t need proof of such excellence from Skubal.
When they acquired him from the Tigers two months ago, they knew they had landed the one player available at this year’s deadline capable of significantly boosting their World Series odds.
Still, the left-hander’s acclimation process wasn’t exactly seamless.
He didn’t record a scoreless outing until two weeks ago in Cincinnati, when he blanked the Reds over seven innings with nine strikeouts and only three hits allowed. And even then, he turned right back around and allowed four runs in five innings against the Giants his last time –– before spending a few days earlier this week away from the team on the bereavement list.
Friday’s rematch at Oracle Park followed an entirely different script.
Skubal was handed a 2-0 lead in the second, after Teoscar Hernández and Andy Pages hit a pair of home runs in a three-batter sequence (for Pages, it was his first long ball since returning from a fractured hand last week).
And from there, the 29-year-old Northern California native never looked back, pounding the Giants with a steady diet of fastballs and changeups to finish the year with a 12-7 record and 2.72 ERA overall (including a 5-2 record and 2.61 ERA in 10 starts with the Dodgers, the last four of which were all winning decisions).
In the process, Skubal touched 100 mph with his heater for only the third time this year, while also getting 12 whiffs on 25 swings with the pitch. His changeup was equally effective, inducing a swing-and-miss seven of the 14 times the Giants offered at it.
The only caveat to his gem: The Giants are trotting out what is effectively a Triple-A lineup, as they limp to the end of a dismal 2026 season in which all of their big stars first struggled, then got hurt.
Still, there are worse ways to enter the playoffs than off the back of what was arguably his most complete start all season.
Friday, after all, was exactly what the Dodgers were envisioning when they traded for Skubal at the deadline.
They will be hoping it’s the start of more things to come in October.
