Paul Skenes dazzles on mound for 2nd time in 3 games, showing he's still among MLB's elite

Nolan Arenado followed with a sharp single to left field, but that was the last baserunner Skenes allowed. He struck out seven and he rarely fell behind in the count, throwing 65 of 97 pitches for strikes.

He has a 5-2 record this season with a 2.36 ERA, striking out 46 batters over 42 innings. It's a big reason the Pirates look like contenders this season in the NL Central with a 20-17 record.

“I don’t know what else there is to say — he was unbelievable,” manager Don Kelly said. “Getting ahead in counts, the elite stuff, putting guys away, low pitch count, very efficient. He was unreal.”

It was a mild surprise that Skenes wasn't back on the mound in the ninth to try for his first career shutout. Left-hander Gregory Soto handled the ninth, working around a one-out walk to secure his second save of the season.

Kelly said Skenes' command wasn't quite as sharp in the eighth inning and his velocity was down slightly, prompting the change.

Skenes — the No. 1 overall pick in 2023 out of LSU — has never thrown a nine-inning complete game in his big league career. He threw 8 1/3 innings once as a rookie in 2024 and threw an eight-inning complete game last season in a 1-0 loss against the Phillies.

This time, Skenes was on the winning end of a 1-0 game. Brandon Lowe supplied the only offense, hitting a 435-foot solo homer to center field. After that, the veteran second baseman had a leisurely evening in the field.

On nights like this one, Skenes doesn't need much help.

“It was really easy — didn't have to do a whole lot,” Lowe said. “Just get out there, watch him do what he does and consistently roll out great appearances. It's fun when you can sit back and let him go on auto-pilot.”

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