CHICAGO -- From the moment Tarik Skubal headed to the outfield to warm up before his Dodgers debut on Tuesday night, Cubs fans filled Wrigley Field with a chorus of boos. It continued all night, culminating in exaggerated cries of “Skuuubal! Skuuubal!” by the sixth inning.
The latest ace acquired by Los Angeles stepped into an October-like atmosphere for his Dodgers debut and the Cubs walked away with a 5-1 victory that sealed a series win. Righty Javier Assad helped the cause with a strong start for Chicago and the lineup did enough to pull off a statement win against the back-to-back World Series champs.
“They’re the team you’ve got to beat,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said Monday. “I totally respect the fact that they really pushed in to do it three times in a row. What an amazing thing to try to accomplish. It’s our job and everyone else’s job to try to make that not happen.”
Here are three takeaways from Tuesday’s win:
1. Assad keeps pace with Skubal
Assad tends to get overshadowed in a Cubs rotation that features the likes of recent All-Stars Matthew Boyd and Shota Imanaga, and will soon have Kevin Gausman and Clay Holmes joining the fold after Chicago’s busy Trade Deadline.
Make no mistake, Assad has quietly been a key piece to the staff, and he was up to the challenge of taking on Skubal on Tuesday night.
“Javy’s a great competitor,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “That’s the one thing -- you’re going to get that every single time. He knows how to beat you. And he went up [against] a lot of good left-handed hitters in the lineup, and he was really good.”
With his sinker zipping effectively for most of the night, Assad gave the Cubs 5 2/3 innings and held the Dodgers to a solo homer by Kyle Tucker. The right-hander generated 11 outs via ground balls, including a pair of double plays. Dating back to the start of May, Assad now has a 2.24 ERA between seven starts and seven relief appearances.
“He’s so impressive,” Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner said. “I feel like he gets a reputation of like a crafty pitcher, but he’s ripping 94-95 [mph] with two different fastballs and command of five pitches. It’s a real tough mix. It’s no surprise he’s having success, and tonight was a really impressive outing on a good night to hit against a great offense. That was big time.”
Assad headed off the mound to a rousing standing ovation from the Wrigley Field faithful, who have seen a strong run of pitching from Chicago’s rotation over the past month. Including Assad’s 88-pitch effort on Tuesday, the Cubs’ starting group has logged a 2.85 ERA dating back to July 4.
“We have a great pitching staff,” Assad said via team interpreter Fredy Quevedo Jr. “As a starter, of course, you always want to go out there and do the best job possible, go as deep as possible, and be able to just get good results.”
2. Cubs’ lineup delivers
Skubal looked the part of the blockbuster trade addition for the first two innings, striking out three of the first six batters he faced. In the third inning, the Cubs got the spark they needed to stop the lefty from settling into the kind of dominating rhythm that has been his trademark.
Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson led off by attacking a first-pitch fastball that clocked in at 96.6 mph, per Statcast. Swanson connected with the elevated heater and drove it over left-center field and into the bleacher seats for a leadoff homer that pulled the game into a 1-1 deadlock.
“You’ve got to kind of pick pitches at times,” Counsell said of facing Skubal. “With the great ones, that’s what you have to do. You have to pick pitches. That’s kind of what Dansby did. You have to sell out for something. We did a good job kind of creating a couple other scoring opportunities. That’s how you have to beat guys like that.”
Skubal sidestepped the potential harm of two more baserunners in the third and did not flinch again until a sixth inning that had the crowd revved up. With two outs and runners on the corners, Hoerner chopped a pitch high over Skubal, who watched it drop in front of second baseman Tommy Edman. Bregman scored from third to give Chicago a 2-1 lead.
Following Skubal’s six innings, the Cubs added three runs across the seventh and eighth against the Dodgers’ bullpen. Pete Crow-Armstrong (two hits and two steals in the win) and Seiya Suzuki each delivered an RBI single in the seventh, while Hoerner belted a solo homer off Edwin Díaz in the eighth.
“The production from our lineup is so impressive,” Hoerner said. “It’s kind of a different hero every night.”
3. Taylor’s role in Cubs’ lineup
Beyond landing Holmes from the Mets, the Cubs also acquired outfielder Tyrone Taylor as part of the trade. Counsell asked the front office to try to find a right-handed hitter to help boost the bench and Hoyer answered with the pickup of Taylor.
“We’re just adding a veteran, good defensive outfielder,” Counsell said. “He’s got a history of hitting left-handed pitching. He can play center field. He’s a good baserunner. All those things, I think, fit as a real supplemental piece on this roster really, really well.”
With the lefty Skubal on the mound, Taylor made his Cubs debut on Tuesday night as the left fielder and sixth hitter. While the outfielder finished 0-for-3 against Skubal, expect more starts like that for him going forward. Taylor entered the night with a .900 OPS against lefties this year, while Cubs switch-hitter Ian Happ had a .530 OPS off left-handers.
Counsell said he will pick spots to sit Happ against some lefties, but could then have him enter midgame off the bench. The manager said he has discussed the situation with the veteran Cubs left fielder.
“I’m just thankful to be here to be able to help out any way I can,” Taylor said.