Dodgers 4, Pirates 3: Skubal's 11 Strikeouts and First Win in Los Angeles

Down three after one, then Skubal took the rest of the night

August 22, 2026 - Los Angeles - Tarik Skubal walked to the mound as a Dodger still looking for his first win in the new uniform. Oneil Cruz tripled in two before the first inning ended. Rafael Flores Jr. grounded in another. 3-0 Pittsburgh.

Skubal (8-7) then retired 20 of his final 23 batters. Seven innings. Five hits. One walk. Eleven strikeouts. The Los Angeles Dodgers climbed back and beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-3. Fifth straight win. Ninth in 12. The 37th comeback win of their season. First W for the two-time Cy Young winner since the August trade from Detroit.

The fourth cut it to one. The fifth flipped it.

Jared Jones held Los Angeles hitless through three, then cracked in the fourth. Teoscar Hernández and newly called-up Alek Thomas singled home runs back to back. 3-2. The deficit that looked settled after one inning was suddenly a one-run game.

The fifth belonged to traffic and Kyle Tucker. Mookie Betts took a pitch from Yohan Ramírez and reached. Max Muncy doubled. Tucker singled to right, snapped an 0-for-25 skid at home, and drove in both the tying and go-ahead runs. 4-3. A sellout of 53,417 answered the way a home crowd answers a player who finally finds the grass again.

Ramírez (6-4) took the loss. Camilo Doval threw a scoreless sixth for Pittsburgh before an ejection. Jones finished with two runs on three hits in four innings, five strikeouts, and five walks. The early 3-0 lead did not survive the middle innings.

The eighth almost gave it back

Esmerlyn Valdez doubled off Evan Phillips in the eighth. Pinch-runner Billy Cook moved to third on a passed ball by Ben Rortvedt. Jack Dreyer entered and froze Cruz on a called third strike to end the threat. Tanner Scott retired the side in the ninth for his 19th save.

That is the whole night in miniature. Skubal survived the first. The lineup caught up in the fourth and fifth. The bullpen refused to give the early deficit a second life. Skubal had been 0-2 with a 3.18 ERA in his first three Dodgers starts. Saturday was the night the win column finally moved.

AthX Engine put Skubal with the night's top arms

AthX Engine graded Skubal at 24 pitching fantasy points, third on the slate behind Painter and Johnson. Los Angeles scored 8 team fantasy points, tied near the bottom of the top 10 because a 4-3 does not fill a team board like an 11-5. Fantasy points measure the box. Price is a separate market number.

What's next

Blake Snell starts the series finale against a Pirates starter still to be named. Skubal's first Dodgers win will not be the last chapter of the trade. It is the first one that ends with a W next to his name in Los Angeles.

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*Sources: ESPN recap, ESPN box score, MLB schedule, AthX Engine scoring. Information only; not financial advice.*