Pirates' Paul Skenes Has 4-Word Brewers Admission After Blowout

They beat one of the game's best... handily

Aug 12, 2025; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes (30) reacts after giving up a solo home run to Milwaukee Brewers second baseman Brice Turang (not pictured) in the fourth inning at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-Imagn Images | Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

No, not even the favorite for the National League Cy Young Award can hold the Milwaukee Brewers in check right now.

The Brewers took on the Pittsburgh Pirates' Paul Skenes on Tuesday night, looking to extend their winning streak to 11. Not only did they win the game 12-0, but they jumped on Skenes immediately, as Sal Frelick greeted him with a leadoff home run, and the righty didn't end up making it past the fourth inning.

Now 75-44, the Brewers have a 7 1/2-game lead in the NL Central, the largest of any division leader. They're an astonishing 25 games ahead of the last-place Pirates, who have now sank to 51-75 after dropping the first two games of the series.

Paul Skenes speaks on Brewers' dominance

Aug 12, 2025; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes (30) reacts after giving up a solo home run to Milwaukee Brewers right fielder Sal Frelick (10) in the first inning at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-Imagn Images | Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

Skenes has now failed to go five or more innings in only two starts this year, and both were against the Brewers. Brice Turang clipped him for another home run in the fourth inning, and in total, Milwaukee had six hits to only four strikeouts.

After his Major League Baseball-best ERA jumped from 1.94 to 2.13, Skenes wasn't much for excuses. The Brewers, he said, are tough to contend with at the moment.

"They're hot right now," said Skenes, per Rich Rovito of MLB.com. “I got in positions that weren’t very advantageous to me to where I had to be perfect, and I didn’t have my best stuff. I couldn’t really count on any singular pitch to be executed and get guys out."

Pirates interim manager Don Kelly also heaped praise on the Brewers, who wound up with five home runs in the game, all from different batters.

“They do have momentum and they’re going to put up good at-bats,” Kelly said, per Rovito. “For Paul today, the fastball was there, but it didn’t seem like he had full command of the offspeed and they got a hold of some fastballs.”

The Pirates may be a laughingstock, but Skenes is as good as they come. That the Brewers not only beat him, but did so with ease, speaks to just how much momentum this team is playing with. If they could magically move the start of the playoffs to Wednesday, they probably would.

Milwaukee goes for its 12th-straight win, which would be the team's longest streak since 2018, at 1:10 p.m. CT against the Pirates on Wednesday.

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