Inside The Cardinals

Pirates' Paul Skenes Not 'Going To Lose Any Sleep' After 3rd Straight Cardinals Loss

St. Louis is the phenom's kryptonite
Nate Hagerty|
Sep 16, 2024; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes (30) pitches against the St. Louis Cardinals during the first inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images
Sep 16, 2024; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes (30) pitches against the St. Louis Cardinals during the first inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

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The St. Louis Cardinals' red-hot offense didn't disappoint during Tuesday night's 5-3 victory over the National League Central rival Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Pirates appointed ace Paul Skenes to start against the Cardinals but in his third consecutive appearance against St. Louis, the young flamethrower recorded a loss, which turned out to be his worst-career performance -- sacrificing five earned runs on six hits, seven strikeouts and one walk in six innings pitched.

Unlike the rest of the league, the Cardinals show no fear when facing Skenes and his triple-digit velocity throwing arm -- a rarity as a starting pitcher. However, the Pirates' fireballer doesn't sound too worried after his latest battle against St. Louis.

“'It's not something I'm going to lose any sleep over,' said Skenes, who has suffered four losses in his short MLB career -- three of which have come at the hands of the Cardinals," MLB.com's John Denton reported Tuesday night. “'It's just, it's the game. They're big leaguers. This is their fourth time seeing me. That's just sort of how it goes. Got to tip your cap. They just executed a little better than I did today.'"

Since debuting with the Pirates in May 2024, Skenes has logged an elite 12-4 record with a 2.14 ERA, 190-to-35 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .196 batting average against, and a 0.93 WHIP.

The 2024 National League Rookie of the Year is one of the league's most intriguing stars. His stoic-like confidence and nearly untouchable four-seam fastball and "splinker" (hybrid of a splitter and sinker) have taken the league by storm.

If Skenes hopes to avoid losing a fourth straight outing to the Cardinals, he'll have to perform much better than he did Tuesday night. This year's St. Louis lineup has been among the league's best to start the season and shows no signs of slowing down.

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Nate Hagerty
NATE HAGERTY

Nate Hagerty joined “Inside The Cardinals” as a content creator to spread knowledge about his favorite childhood team. A hometown native of Boston, Hagerty chose at an early age of six years old to follow the St. Louis Cardinals. The miraculous season of 04’ for the Red Sox did not deter Hagerty from rooting against his hometown team, nor did it in 2013 against the Red Birds. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding Inside The Cardinals, please reach out to Scott Neville: nevilles@merrimack.edu 

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