Pirates' Paul Skenes Continues Historic Start to Career with Another Gem
The Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Cincinnati Reds on Monday night at PNC Park. The 4-1 win moved the Pirates to 35-37 on the season while the loss dropped the Reds to 34-38.
In the win, Pirates' young flamethrower Paul Skenes dominated once again. The No. 1 overall draft pick in the 2023 draft is now 4-0 with a 2.29 ERA. He went 6.0 innings, allowed just one run on six hits and struck out seven.
He also made a little history, according to Sarah Langs of MLB.com:
50+ strikeouts and fewer than 10 walks in 1st 7 career app (since at least 1901):
2024 Paul Skenes (7 BB)
2024 Jared Jones (5 BB)
2014 Masahiro Tanaka (7 BB)
18 pitchers have had 50+ K in their first 7 career games in span, and 2 of the 3 with the lowest walk totals are TEAMMATES WHO BOTH DID IT THIS YEAR
Skenes is certainly living up to the hype, as he came into this season as the most hyped pitching prospect of the last 15 years. Furthermore, he and Jones have given Pirates fans a reason to be excited and they should pair to make a great top of the rotation for years to come.
The two teams will play again on Tuesday night with the first pitch coming at 6:40 p.m. ET. Nick Lodolo will pitch for the Reds while Bailey Falter will go for the Pirates. Lodolo, a former top prospect himself, is 7-2 this season with a 2.93 ERA. Falter is 3-4 with a 3.86.
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