Pirates' Paul Skenes Faces Orioles For First Time
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PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Pirates right-handed starting pitcher Paul Skenes takes the mound against a team he hasn't faced before in his career in his next start.
Skenes takes on the Baltimore Orioles in the second game of a three-game midweek series at Camden Yards on Sept. 10. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m.
He has never faced the Orioles before in his career, as the Pirates last played them at PNC Park, April 5-7, 2024, the home opening series for that season.
Skenes didn't make his debut until May 11, 2024, and since the Pirates only play American League teams once a season, excluding their rival in the Detroit Tigers, this marks the first series against the Orioles since he's been at the MLB level.
This start means that Skenes will have faced all five teams from the American League East Division. He faced the Tampa Bay Rays twice in his first two seasons, the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park on Aug. 29, the Toronto Blue Jays at PNC Park on Aug. 18 and the New York Yankees back on Sept. 28, 2024 at Yankees Stadium.
Skenes is coming off a stellar outing in the series finale vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers at PNC Park on Sept. 4, as he threw six scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and a walk, while posting eight strikeouts in the 5-3 win.
He improved his record to 10-9 on the season, marking the first time he's been a game over .500, since late April, as he's earned a win in his last three starts.
It also dropped his career ERA to 1.97 over 52 starts, the lowest in MLB history over that amount of time since the beginning of the liveball era (1920-present).
Skenes will make his 30th start of the season in his outing vs. the Orioles and has about three more starts afterwards before 2025 ends.
He ranks amongst the best pitchers in baseball, with the lowest ERA (1.98), tied for the fourth most strikeouts (195), fourth lowest WHIP (0.94), tied for the fifth lowest batting average (.195) and the 11th most innings pitched (173.0). He also has the seventh best K/BB (5.00) and both the 11th best K/9 (10.14) and the 11th best BB/9 (2.03).
Skenes is also the frontrunner for the National League Cy Young Award, with the lowest ERA, tied for the second most strikeouts, second lowest WHIP, the fourth-lowest opposing batting average in the NL and the fifth-most innings pitched.
The Pirates also made three changes to their lineup from their series opener, a 3-2 loss in extra innings to the Orioles on Sept. 9.
Tommy Pham takes over at designated hitter, moving from left field and coming in for Andrew McCutchen, while staying fourth in the lineup.
This the first game that Pham has served as the designated hitter for the Pirates, with McCutchen, Bryan Reynolds, Joey Bart and Oneil Cruz the only four other players to start a game there this season.
Ji Hwan Bae starts in left field for the second time in three games, after the Pirates recalled him from Triple-A Indianapolis on Sept. 5, and hits eighth in the lineup.
Rookie Nick Yorke also takes over at second base for Nick Gonzales and bats sixth for the Pirates. Yorke last started at second base in the series opener vs. the Milwaukee Brewers at PNC Park on Sept. 5.
Jared Triolo sticks at shortstop and leads off, Spencer Horwitz continues at first base and second in the lineup and rookie Cam Devanney stays at third base, but moves up two spots to seventh in the lineup, rounding out the Pirates' infield.
Reynolds stays in right field and third in the batting order, while Oneil Cruz continues in center field, but moves up two spots to fifth in the lineup, completing the Pirates' outfield.
Henry Davis sticks at catcher and makes his 26th consecutive start behind the plate for Skenes. He drops down one spot to ninth in the Pirates batting order.
Pittsburgh Pirates Lineup vs. the Baltimore Orioles
SS Jared Triolo
1B Spencer Horwitz
RF Bryan Reynolds
DH Tommy Pham
CF Oneil Cruz
2B Nick Yorke
3B Cam Devanney
LF Ji Hwan Bae
C Henry Davis
Game 2 vs. the Orioles
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) September 10, 2025
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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.