Nico Hoerner shines as Cubs spoil Tarik Skubal’s debut with Dodgers in 5-1 win

CHICAGO — The Chicago Cubs spoiled Tarik Skubal‘s debut with the slumping Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night, posting a 5-1 victory behind key RBI singles by Nico Hoerner and Pete Crow-Armstrong.

Dansby Swanson connected for a solo homer as Chicago won for the third time in four games.

Skubal permitted two runs and four hits over six innings in his first start since he was acquired in a trade with Detroit on Saturday night. The two-time AL Cy Young Award winner threw 85 pitches, 51 for strikes.

Kyle Tucker homered for Los Angeles, which finished with four hits in its fifth consecutive loss. It’s the longest slide for the Dodgers since they also dropped five in a row in early September last year.

With two out and runners at the corners in the sixth, Hoerner hit a high chopper to the right of the mound. Alex Bregman scampered home on the infield single, giving Chicago a 2-1 lead.

The Cubs added two more in the seventh on singles by Crow-Armstrong and Seiya Suzuki, and Hoerner made it 5-1 with a solo homer off Edwin Díaz in the eighth.

Ryan Rolison (6-1) pitched a scoreless inning for the win.

Los Angeles jumped in front in the second. Moments after Mookie Betts bounced into a double play, Tucker drove a 2-1 sinker from Javier Assad to left-center for his 10th homer.

Tucker heard boos for the second consecutive night in his return to Chicago after playing for the Cubs last season. The right fielder, who signed a $240 million, four-year contract with the Dodgers in free agency, also made a lunging catch on Hoerner’s sinking liner to right in the bottom of the second.

Skubal (7-6) retired his first six batters before Swanson drove his first pitch of the third to left-center for his 17th homer, sending a charge through the crowd of 40,584 at Wrigley Field.