Pittsburgh Pirates fireballer Paul Skenes is producing stellar numbers during his sophomore season, even if his won-loss record isn’t among them.
Pittsburgh’s punchless offense has played a significant role in that department, given that it has mustered three runs or fewer in nine of his 14 starts this season.
Skenes (4-6, 1.88 ERA) and the visiting Pirates look for better results on Friday afternoon when they play the second contest of a four-game series against the Chicago Cubs.
The Cubs claimed the series opener 3-2 on Thursday. Pete Crow-Armstrong belted a two-run homer, Seiya Suzuki added a solo shot and Jameson Taillon tossed 6 1/3 strong innings to extend his winning streak to five games.
For Crow-Amstrong, it was his team-leading 18th homer of the season and second in four games against Pittsburgh.
“He’s got a lot of energy. It seems like he’s got a lot of fans in the city of Chicago, and deservedly so,” Taillon said of Crow-Armstrong. “… He’s one of those guys coming into the year that our lineup should be really good, and if he just plays good defense and steals bases, we’re going to be a good team. He’s definitely exceeded those expectations.”
Like Taillon, Skenes also has provided strong pitching throughout the season — but the second-year Pirate just doesn’t have much to show for it.
Case in point, Skenes was saddled with a no-decision in his last start despite allowing one run, which was unearned, on two hits in 7 2/3 innings against the visiting Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday. That marked the 11th quality start of the season for the 2024 National League Rookie of the Year.
“I think we’ve been playing pretty good ball for a little bit now and either haven’t come out with (wins) or lost by a run or something like that in a few games,” Skenes said. “I’ve been happy with the baseball we’ve been playing. It’s nice to finally get some wins out of it, too.”
Unfortunately for Skenes, his latest encounter against the Cubs didn’t go so well.
Skenes, 23, yielded three runs on five hits — including three solo homers — with four walks in five innings during an 8-3 home setback on May 1. He is 2-1 with a 2.88 ERA in five career appearances (all starts) against the Cubs.
Chicago will counter with promising rookie right-hander Cade Horton (3-1, 4.11 ERA). He will make his seventh career outing (sixth start) and first appearance vs. Pittsburgh.
Horton, 23, sustained his first loss after allowing a season-high four runs on seven hits in five innings of a 4-0 road setback to the Detroit Tigers on Sunday.
“Fastball execution wasn’t there,” Horton said. “Gave them the momentum early and it just came down to fastball execution … Try to make the next pitch and I wasn’t able to do that. It happens.”
Chicago’s Adam Frazier, who hit an RBI single on Thursday, is batting .321 (9-for-28) in June.
–Field Level Media
