How Paul Skenes Reacted After Dominant No-Decision Vs. Phillies

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes is stuck on the spin cycle after another dominant day on the mound. But that doesn’t seem to be bothering him.

The right-hander allowed just one unearned run in 7 2/3 innings against the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday. He gave up two hits and struck out seven.

But when he walked off the mound, the Pirates had managed just one run.

While designated hitter Andrew McCutchen’s eighth-inning single plated the winning run in the Pirates’ 2-1 victory, Skenes took a no-decision for fourth time this season. In all four of those games, he allowed no more than two runs. Skenes, however, is just trying to control what he can control.

“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 told reporters, according to the Associated Press. “I’ve been happy with the baseball we’ve been playing. It’s nice to finally get some wins out of it, too. It’s easy to go on a losing streak, too, so we’ve just got to keep going.”

Skenes threw 62 of his 97 pitches for strikes, and earned high praise from manager Don Kelly.

“Unbelievable. What can you say (about Skenes)? Just continued to fill up the strike zone, elite stuff,” Kelly told reporters. “At the beginning, really sharp. Kind of in the middle, looked like it got it away from him. That’s just what he’s shown, that he’s able to dial it back in and just dominate the strike zone. He was unbelievable again today.”

Despite the no-decision, Skenes lowered his ERA to 1.88, which is second-best in the National League. He trails only New York Mets ace Kodai Senga (1.59 ERA). Skenes has given up no more than one run in each of his last six starts, good for a 0.85 ERA during that span.

According to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, Skenes has not surrendered more than six hits in any of his 37 career starts while posting a gaudy 1.88 ERA. While the Pirates are 21-16 when he takes the mound, Skenes has just 15 wins to his credit.

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