The Paul Skenes show continues.
The Pittsburgh Pirates rookie pitcher continued to dazzle Wednesday in his fourth MLB start. Skenes struck out nine Detroit Tigers batters and offered little to hit in the Pirates’ 10-2 victory.
Skenes repeatedly baffled hitters with a fastball that reached 100 mph and a splitter that topped out at 95 mph. He started the game with a 1-2-3 first inning. The Tigers tagged him for a run in the second with a walk, a single and a sacrifice fly.
Skenes then pitched a scoreless third before striking out the sides in the fourth, relying on his splitter for knockouts. Mark Canha swung and missed a 94 mph splitter in the zone for strike three. Colt Keith then swung and missed a 94 mph splitter from the plate. Akil Baddoo couldn’t reach a 95 mph third strike that landed in the back of the zone.
The fifth had to do with efficiency. Skenes needed just nine pitches to retire the team with two lineouts and a Spencer Torkelson strikeout.
In the sixth, Skenes finally made an error. Matt Vierling made him pay. Skenes left an 87 mph slider hanging in the middle of the strike zone, and Vierling launched it over the left field wall for a solo home run that cut Pittsburgh’s lead to 5-2 with two outs.
Skenes then induced a Canha groundout and his day was over.
Ultimately, Skenes pitched six innings, allowing three hits, a walk, a home run and two earned runs with nine strikeouts. The 22-year-old raised his career strikeout total to 30 in 22 innings pitched over four games.
He received plenty of support along the way Wednesday, including another home run from Andrew McCutchen. McCutchen hit a three-run homer in the third inning to give the Pirates a 3-1 lead.
Pittsburgh never fell behind again. McCutchen has now homered in each of Skenes’ four starts to bring his tally to eight on the season.
