Oct. 3, 2026Up to date Oct. 4, 2026, 12:35 a.m. ET
LOS ANGELES – Tarik Skubal walked off the mound after drawing a flyout from Atlanta Braves first baseman Matt Olson to get out of the sixth inning and seemed over at Blake Snell as soon as he received within the dugout.
“Has it been this scorching all sport?” Skubal requested.
“It is wonderful what your mind can do,” Skubal added as he mirrored on a scorching 103-degree day at Dodger Stadium. “In sure circumstances and moments, it is wonderful what you possibly can management and form of remove. I really did not assume it was horrible once I was pitching, … however yeah, it was a scorching one.”
Dodgers supervisor Dave Roberts made no secret of his desire to play at night time when requested about it earlier within the week, however as soon as the San Diego Padres swept the Chicago Cubs within the wild card collection on Wednesday, the Dodgers have been boxed right into a 1 p.m. native begin time amid a warmth wave fueled by El Niño. It was 100 levels Fahrenheit when Skubal threw his first pitch Saturday and the temperature continued to rise from there in an eventual 5-3 win that gave the Dodgers a 1-0 collection lead within the NLDS.
It was the Dodgers’ hottest postseason sport on report since Recreation 1 of the 2017 World Sequence.
However as Roberts seemed again on that day 9 years in the past, he emphasised that there is nothing anybody can really do in regards to the climate besides to remain hydrated. The Braves felt ready, with Lane Thomas and supervisor Walt Weiss noting pregame it really felt somewhat cooler than summers in Atlanta as a result of humidity.
Teoscar Hernández received the Dodgers on the board with a towering 431-foot, two-run homer within the backside of the fourth that set the tone offensively for LA; he echoed the sentiment.
“I do not assume we have been too involved in regards to the warmth or something like that,” Hernández mentioned in Spanish. “We have been centered on doing what we would have liked to do to win, try to win the sport.”
This wasn’t the most popular sport Skubal has ever performed in; rising up in Kingman, Arizona, he claimed he performed in somewhat league sport in Lake Havasu that was 127 levels.
“Slightly bit totally different sport,” he mentioned. “… However yeah, it is up there with as scorching a baseball sport as you possibly can play in.”
And although the solar beating down over Chavez Ravine wasn’t one thing Skubal was absolutely cognizant of all through the 94 pitches he threw in six innings, with seven strikeouts and only one run allowed, the two-time Cy Younger winner knew the perfect factor he may do was be environment friendly.
After giving up a leadoff single to Braves DH Drake Baldwin, Skubal retired the subsequent 15 batters he confronted in a row till Sean Murphy took him deep to left heart subject for a solo shot to open up the highest of the sixth.
“That at all times helps you keep somewhat little bit of stamina,” Skubal mentioned. “It is scorching, no denying that. However each crew’s enjoying in the identical situations we’re, so it would not actually matter. It should not actually influence how you might be mentally. … Simply go on the market and play baseball and attempt to drink water. That is actually it.”
Skubal has talked about earlier than that he likes to avoid wasting his larger pitches for the ends of his outings to empty the tank, however his hardest pitch of Recreation 1 on Saturday was a 101.1 mph fastball within the second inning. It may’ve been the postseason making his “juices move in another way,” or the truth that he was merely in a very good depend that referred to as for it. Or the joy of the Dodger Stadium crowd on their ft as he sensed the top of an inning closing in.
However Skubal jokingly supplied one other concept.
“I believe I used to be simply attempting to match the temperature on the market.”
