LOS ANGELES — Tarik Skubal was as hittable as he’s been in his seven seasons in the big leagues on Thursday night. But while the basepaths were full of Cardinals, the southpaw managed to limit the damage.
Skubal tied his career high by giving up 10 hits, but he was nevertheless able to hold St. Louis to two earned runs across 5 2/3 innings in the series finale at Dodger Stadium. He kept his team in the game, and the Dodgers went down to their final two outs to walk off the Cardinals, 3-2, on a Teoscar Hernández two-run double to avoid being swept in three games.
It was the second time Skubal has allowed double-digit hits, previously doing so on July 22, 2024, against the Guardians. Remarkably, all 10 of the hits Skubal gave up were singles.
“I think that might be one of the few times that stat line has ever happened in a big league game,” Skubal said. “I don’t really know what to make of it.”
It marked the first time in the Majors this season that a pitcher allowed double-digit hits and none went for extra bases. There were four such instances in 2025 — and only one of those pitchers, the Mariners’ Bryan Woo, allowed two runs or fewer like Skubal did.
“That’s probably the first time in my career I’ve ever kind of experienced something to that extent, and only give up two runs and pitch as deep as I did into the game,” Skubal said. “Baseball is baseball sometimes.”
The Cardinals did not wait around to strike against Skubal, knocking three singles in the first inning to get on the board first. They tacked on another run on three more base hits in the third inning. The heavy traffic drove up Skubal’s pitch count, as he was at 60 pitches after completing the third.
Skubal tossed a 1-2-3 fourth, but that was an anomaly in an outing where he allowed at least one baserunner in each of the other innings he pitched. His night came to an end after he recorded the second out of the sixth inning on his 102nd pitch, leaving two runners on for Edgardo Henriquez, who stranded both. It was the second time in his six starts as a Dodger that Skubal did not complete six innings.
“These guys right there, they’re gritty. They’re scrappy. They don’t punch a whole lot. They put the ball in play,” manager Dave Roberts said. “But again, [Skubal] finding a way with the pitch count up early to then almost get through six innings and not have that stellar stuff or outing, still speaks to the compete.”
The Dodgers have yet to see Skubal at his best since acquiring him ahead of the Trade Deadline, but regardless, they love the competitor that comes out whenever he takes the ball. Especially when he finds a way to make the best out of an unusual night on the mound.
“Baseball’s a weird game,” Skubal said. “It’s a really weird game.”