Tarik Skubal had every reason to keep the ball in his hand Friday night at Oracle Park. The Dodgers left-hander was working with the kind of clean, economical line that can turn into a personal milestone in a hurry: seven scoreless innings, 10 strikeouts, three hits allowed and only 75 pitches.
Instead, Skubal’s final regular-season outing ended with handshakes and hugs in the Los Angeles dugout as the Dodgers protected a 2-0 victory over the Giants. He had faced just two hitters above the minimum and was positioned to chase the second Maddux of his career, but there was no reason for the club to stretch the evening beyond its larger October plan.
Los Angeles had already secured the National League’s No. 2 postseason seed, changing the manager’s late-game math even if the club had said it would not fundamentally alter its approach in the final days. In a tighter spot a week earlier, Skubal might have been sent back out to pursue the complete game. With the postseason ahead, the Dodgers chose the scheduled route instead.
Dodgers keep the bullpen plan intact
Roki Sasaki took over for the eighth inning, exactly as Los Angeles had intended before the game. It was Sasaki’s second outing since coming off the injured list, and the Dodgers have only two more regular-season games to get him ready for a bullpen assignment in October.
The right-hander delivered a crisp inning, retiring all three Giants he faced and striking out two. Tanner Scott handled the ninth to finish the shutout and secure the Dodgers’ 98th win of the season.
For Skubal, the decision did not erase the dominance of the start. He owned the night from the opening innings, missed bats at a high rate and barely gave San Francisco a chance to build anything. The complete-game opportunity was there, but the Dodgers left Oracle Park with the result they wanted: a healthy starter, a sharpened Sasaki and another win before the games begin to matter in a different way.
