Pirates' Paul Skenes Dominates in Second Season Start
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PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Pirates star pitcher Paul Skenes showed exactly why fans across the country see him as one of the best in the game with his latest.
Skenes faced the Tampa Bay Rays at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Fla., looking to get his first victory and end a losing streak for the Pirates.
He did just that, going 102 pitches over seven innings, allowing no earned runs or walks and just three hits, while striking out six batters in the 4-2 win for Pittsburgh.
Skenes only allowed two hits through the first five innings and the Rays only got a run that started with single that turned into a double off an error from Pirates shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa in the sixth inning.
“Yeah, it was efficient," Skenes said on his outing. "We were getting quick outs, getting ahead in counts, kind of built some momentum and have to keep it going.”
Skenes started Opening Day for the Pirates, as they faced the Miami Marlins at loanDepot Park on March 27.
He had one more strikeout vs. the Marlins with seven, but also went 94 pitches over 5.1 innings, allowing two runs, for a less effective outing than against the Rays.
Skenes said that he executed much better vs. the Rays and that he got some quicker innings, as he got more groundouts, rather than strikeouts earlier on in the game.
"It’s kinda how it goes a little bit with having quick innings," Skenes said. "Having quick innings is a product of getting quick outs," "So, a lot of the time, they are not getting to two strikes, then we frankly just started executing pitches a little bit better. So, I think that was the big one. Some games, you’re just not going to have as many punch outs and that was today."
Pirates manager Derek Shelton had nothing but praise for the reigning National League Rookie of the Year, who showed the talents he had last season in the victory, compared to Opening Day.
“Yeah I think, last outing, it was almost just getting his feet underneath him it looked like, even though he had pitched in the big leagues before, and today it looked more like what we saw out of him last year," Shelton said. "Execution of the fast ball, being able to go back to it at times when he had to, I thought was really impressive."
Skenes almost ran into trouble in the seventh inning, falling behind his last two batters on 3-0 counts, but still fought back and got struck them both out, ending his day the best way he could.
"Falling behind 3-0 on the last two hitters of the game is not very good," Skenes said. "I don’t have anything to lose out there, though. Get outs, that’s my job. So, that’s all I was trying to do. I mean, It’s not as hard as people think it is to throw strikes. So I just did it, three pitches too late."
Endy Rodríguez also served as the Pirates catcher for Skenes in the win vs. the Rays. He also had an RBI single in the eighth inning, increasing the Pirates lead to 3-1.
Skenes praised Rodríguez for his performance in just his second start at catcher this season, playing a role in the victory.
“Yeah he did a good job," Skenes said on Rodríguez. "Called a good game, received well, yeah it was good.”
Dominic writes for Pittsburgh Pirates On SI, Pittsburgh Panthers Pn SI and also, Pittsburgh Steelers On SI. A Pittsburgh native, Dominic grew up watching Pittsburgh Sports and wrote for The Pitt News as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, covering Pitt Athletics. He would write for Pittsburgh Sports Now after college and has years of experience covering sports across Pittsburgh.