Matthew Liberatore fans nine in loss to Pirates

Skubal gave up only three singles and walked one in his first scoreless start for the Dodgers. He’s 3-1 with a 2.08 ERA and a 45/7 K/BB in 39 innings over his last six starts. He’ll face the Giants next time out.

De La Cruz tapped a ball 457 feet, but Phillips otherwise got a strikeout and two soft groundouts. He still might have a save or two in him during these final two weeks.

Lodolo allowed only three hits, but two of those were homers, and two of the four batters he walked came around to score. On the plus side, though he dropped to 3-5 with a 5.12 ERA, it is the first time in 19 starts this year that he’s completed seven innings. He’ll likely face the Cubs on Sunday.

He also picked up his 11th steal of the year. He’s been perfect there, so it sure would be nice if he’d been a little more aggressive. Since the start of 2024, he’s been caught just three times in 50 steal attempts.

The homer off Evan Phillips was his longest since his rookie season in 2023, when he hit one 467 feet off Xzavion Curry. De La Cruz has 27 homers in 131 games this season. His previous high was 25 in 160 games in 2024. He had 22 in 162 games last season.

Rodríguez did great work over the final 10 days of August and first week of September, hitting .368 with five homers over a 14-game span. However, this .045 stretch has put him back down to .230/.281/.389 in 121 plate appearances as a major leaguer. We worry there’s a slight chance the Reds might send him down in the next couple of days, as doing so would preserve his rookie eligibility for 2027. That opportunity would be lost this weekend.

There simply isn’t enough time for Meyer to make the kind of progress that would enable him to pitch again before the regular season concludes. The 27-year-old engineered a phenomenal breakout campaign, posting a sparkling 2.68 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and 121/41 K/BB ratio across 111 innings over 20 starts, prior to hitting the injured list with a neck injury in late July. All signs point to Meyer having a relatively normal offseason and being ready for spring training.

Devenski went unclaimed on waivers after being designated for assignment last week. The 35-year-old journeyman figures to stick around as emergency depth for the final two weeks of the season. He allowed eight runs over 5 1/3 innings during his latest stint with New York.

Miller finds himself back in the majors with Edgardo Henriquez hitting the shelf with a back issue. The 27-year-old former top pitching prospect allowed one run over three innings during his season debut earlier this month. He figures to operate in low-leverage spots out of the Dodgers’ bullpen, which pretty much extinguishes any avenues to fantasy relevance.

It’s a significant loss for Los Angeles’ high-leverage relief mix as Henriquez has been one of their more reliable arms. The hard-throwing 24-year-old has posted an impressive 2.85 ERA and 71/25 K/BB ratio across 60 innings this season. He was probably next in line for save opportunities if lefty Tanner Scott continued to struggle after blowing a save against the Marlins over the weekend. He’s done for the remainder of the regular season, but figures to be ready for the outset of the postseason.