Paul Skenes Punches Out Eight, Suffers First Loss Vs. Cardinals

Paul Skenes couldn’t go undefeated forever but even in a loss, he shined on the mound.

The Pittsburgh Pirates are fighting for their first playoff berth since 2015. That means that every game counts in the second half. Skenes got his first go for the Pirates following the MLB All-Star Game and break. With their ace on the bump in Game 2 against the St. Louis Cardinals, there were high hopes to win a second-straight game in the series.

Pittsburgh fell by a score of 2-1 to the Cardinals on Tuesday night. St. Louis was powered by a Nolan Arenado home run and a game-winning RBI single in the ninth inning by Alec Burleson off of Skenes. The Pirates struggled to get runs across to aid their All-Star starter, totaling seven hits and the lone run against six Cardinals pitchers.

In the end. Skenes had another impressive start on the mound despite the loss. He went 8 1/3 innings, allowing the two runs on just four hits, striking out a total of eight. While this does move his record to 6-1, the 22-year-old remains dominant with a 1.93 ERA, 97 strikeouts, 0.87 WHIP, and a .195 batting average against.

Skenes will look to get on the winning track in his next start, which is expected to happen in the Houston Astros series beginning Monday.

More MLB: MLB.com Predicts Paul Skenes To Earn All-MLB First Team Honor