Tarik Skubal strikes out 10 as Dodgers shut out Giants 2-0

SAN FRANCISCO — Tarik Skubal struck out 10 over seven scoreless innings as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Francisco Giants 2-0 on Friday night at Oracle Park, in his final tuneup before the postseason. He allowed three singles, issued no walks and needed just 75 pitches.

Los Angeles scored both runs in the second inning on solo home runs. Teoscar Hernández opened the scoring with his fifth homer of September, and two batters later Andy Pages sent a pitch over the wall for his first home run since returning from the injured list earlier in the week.

The win lifted the Dodgers to 98-62 with two regular-season games remaining. They are preparing for the National League Division Series after receiving a first-round bye. Skubal, who joined Los Angeles from the Detroit Tigers at the July trade deadline, lowered his regular-season ERA to 2.72, including a 2.61 mark with the Dodgers.

Skubal rebounded from his previous start against San Francisco, when he allowed four earned runs over five innings. He generated whiffs and weak contact on Friday, retiring 13 of the final 14 batters he faced. In the fourth, he struck out the side, ending the inning by reaching 100 mph with a belt-high fastball that Giants rookie Bo Davidson swung through. It was only the third time all season Skubal had reached triple digits on the radar gun.

“When the shape’s good, you’re confident in your stuff over the zone,” Skubal said. “And then, you’re getting into leverage like I was able to, and you can kind of let it go. So that’s kind of a product of all that.”

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts praised Skubal’s command and pace after the left-hander’s fourth double-digit strikeout performance of the season. “That was the best we’ve seen,” Roberts said. “He was on a mission tonight. You could see it. Everything was working. He just went after those guys and did a fantastic job. Pounded the zone. It’s an explosive fastball. He stays behind it well, he hides it well. And then he’s got the secondaries to go with it. So, tonight certainly was really dominant with the fastball, and could do whatever he wanted tonight.”

The Giants managed only scattered baserunners, and their best contact produced soft singles. In the seventh, third baseman Max Muncy knocked down a ground ball along the infield line to prevent extra bases before Skubal closed out the frame.