Friday, August 28, 2026

Copyrighted by Sarah Morris, 2026

Tarik Skubal was fantastic in his return to Detroit, and the Dodgers’ offense did just enough to snap a three-game losing streak.

On a beautiful Friday night at Comerica Park, the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Detroit Tigers, 2–1. This is their fourth consecutive one-run decision.

The Dodgers had twenty base runners, but they scored two runs, good enough for the win. Kiké Hernández and Freddie Freeman delivered with runners in scoring position.

Just before Skubal took the mound, the Tigers played a video tribute to Skubal, who was traded to the Dodgers on August 1^st. While walking into the bullpen, Skubal wiped tears from his eyes. Nevertheless, he controlled his emotions on the mound and pitched the best game in a Dodger uniform.

He relied on his changeup with its perfect location to baffle his old game. Though he allowed a run in the fifth inning, he was brilliant with seven strikeouts and no walks. “I think I did a good job keeping the game baseball is baseball,” Skubal said.

Dave Roberts could see the emotion from Skubal.  After pushing him in his last two outings, Roberts had predetermined that Skubal would have a shorter outing, and this explains why he yanked his newest ace after 83 pitches.

Evan Phillips was brilliant in the seventh inning, striking out the side on ten pitches. This was his most dominant outing since returning from Tommy John surgery.

Brock Stewart struggled in the eighth inning but induced a double play. Alex Vesia got the last out of the inning with a runner on third.

Rebounding from two difficult outings, Tanner Scott dominated the Tigers to earn the save.

On Saturday, the Dodgers will try to be more productive with runners in scoring position. Blake Snell, who has been outstanding since returning from an elbow procedure, will be on the mound.