Pirates' Paul Skenes Sets New Team USA Record
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PITTSBURGH — Paul Skenes has had some incredible moments in his baseball career, but his most recent start may have been his best yet.
Skenes posted seven strikeouts for Team USA, as they defeated rival Team Mexico 5-3 in World Baseball Classic Pool Play at Daikin Park, home of the Houston Astros, on March 9.
Those seven strikeouts are the most for a Team USA pitcher in any World Baseball Classic game, according to Francys Romero, and he did that over four scoreless innings, making seven of his 12 outs strike outs and throwing 45 strikes of his 60 pitches.
Skenes also allowed just one hit and one walk in his debut, playing a big role in Team USA getting just their second ever win over Team Mexico in a WBC.
How Skenes Got His Seven Strikeouts
Skenes got his first strikeout of the game against the first Team Mexico batter he faced in right fielder Jaren Durran (Boston Red Sox).
He threw seven pitches, including a four-seam fastball that reached 99.7 mph, a splitter and then three changeups, the third which Duran struck out on, after a foul tip into Team USA catcher Cal Raleigh's (Seattle Mariners) glove.
Skenes then posted back-to-back strikeouts to start the second inning against catcher Alejandro Kirk (Toronto Blue Jays) and former Pirates teammate Rowdy Tellez.
He threw three sinkers and a sweeper at Kirk, but would get him with a fastball way above the zone, making him look a tad ridiculous on the swing-and-miss.
Skenes then dominated Tellez in the same fashion, with a splitter, but three fastballs and another one up above the zone that he got another swing-and-miss on.
The third inning was much of the same from Skenes, as he posted back-to-back strikeouts to start out as well.
He faced current Pirates teammate in Nick Gonzales to leadoff, but it was a tougher at-bat for Skenes, as he needed eight pitches and utilized three sinkers, two sweepers, a splitter, a changeup and a slider.
The last sinker worked for Skenes on the full count, as Gonzales couldn't catch up to it below the zone for the strikeout.
Center fielder Alek Thomas (Arizona Diamondbacks) proved an easier strikeout for Skenes, doing so on four pitches, with two splitters and then two changeups low in the zone for the out.
Skenes got left fielder Randy Arozarena (Mariners) to strikeout out to start the fourth inning, with six pitches and using the movement on his sinker for two strikes in the at-bat and the decisive one as well.
His seventh and final strikeout came against Tellez, another four-pitch at-bat, coming in a splitter, a sinker, a changeup and then a fastball up above that Tellez couldn't get his bat on.
All 7 of Paul Skenes WBC strikeouts.
— Alex Fast (@AlexFast8) March 10, 2026
Utter dominance. pic.twitter.com/YVZAls5aFG
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.