Pirates’ Paul Skenes reacts after making more history despite loss vs Cubs

The Pittsburgh Pirates received another historic outing from Paul Skenes on Thursday night, even though it came in a 7-2 loss against the Chicago Cubs. On the eve of his 24th birthday, the reigning National League Cy Young winner struck out 10 batters across 5 1/3 innings while continuing one of the most dominant starts to a young pitching career in recent MLB history.

After allowing nine combined runs in his previous two starts, Skenes bounced back with another overpowering performance despite taking the loss. “That’s cool,” Skenes said according to MLB.com. “There’s a lot of baseball left.”

Following the game, the right-hander reacted calmly after learning he now owns the fourth-best ERA by any pitcher before turning 24 with at least 300 innings pitched, as manager Don Kelly recently reacted after Paul Skenes flirts with no-hitter.

The outing lowered Skenes’ ERA to 2.89 on the season while improving his career ERA to 2.12. The only pitchers ahead of him on the all-time list are names from baseball’s early decades, including Hall of Famer Babe Ruth.

Paul Skenes #30 of the Pirates is pulled from the game in the sixth inning. Justin K. Aller/Getty Images

Skenes dominates early against Cubs lineup

Skenes wasted little time establishing control against Chicago. The flamethrowing right-hander retired the first eight batters he faced and struck out seven of the first eight hitters, repeatedly generating swings and misses with his sweeper and overpowering fastball.

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His seven strikeouts through the first three innings tied a career high, matching marks he previously reached during his rookie season. Skenes also continued his remarkable success in night games this season, entering Thursday with a 0.51 ERA under the lights compared to a much higher daytime ERA.

Despite allowing only three hits through four innings, Skenes admitted afterward that his pitch count climbed because of inconsistent command. “Coming out of the gate was pretty good,” Skenes said. “I think there were times throughout the game where it was kind of hit and miss, but for the most part found ways to get outs.”

Pirates continue searching for consistency behind Skenes

The Cubs finally broke through in the fourth inning after Michael Busch walked and Seiya Suzuki delivered an RBI bloop single to give Chicago a 1-0 lead. Skenes later ran into trouble again in the sixth inning before manager Don Kelly visited the mound with reliever Mason Montgomery warming in the bullpen.

Although Skenes exited after an infield error allowed another run to score, both sixth-inning runs were ruled unearned. Pittsburgh’s bullpen later surrendered additional insurance runs, including a two-run homer from Ian Happ, as the Pirates settled for a split in the four-game series against their NL Central rivals.