Pittsburgh Pirates Paul Skenes has been one of the most consistent pitchers in baseball since making his Major League debut last year, but this month has been a different story for him.
Skenes has been up and down in August, alternating good starts with bad starts. He’s allowed four runs in two separate outings this month and just two runs in his other two starts combined.
After struggling against the Milwaukee Brewers in his last outing, Skenes bounced back at home against the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday. Despite facing them for the first time in his career, he had little trouble against one of the best teams in baseball.
The two-time All-Star went six innings, allowing two runs on five hits and one walk while striking out eight. He threw 65 of his 96 pitches for strikes in the Pirates’ 5-2 win, but settled for a no-decision after leaving with the game tied at 2-2.
After the game, Skenes reflected on navigating the Blue Jays’ World Series-caliber lineup for the first time.
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“It’s kind of a wild card sometimes when you’re facing teams that you’ve never seen, but thought we did a good job with our game plan and then adjusted to what they were doing pretty quickly — so, good day,” Skenes told reporters.
Despite tossing his 16th quality start, Skenes still wound up with his 10th no-decision. He has a 1.89 ERA in those outings, which is a big reason why his win-loss record is 7-9.
The 23-year-old’s ERA rose slightly from 2.13 to 2.16, which still leads the Major Leagues. He now has a career-high 174 strikeouts and a 0.96 WHIP in 154 innings.
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After allowing his first earned runs at PNC Park since June 3, Skenes draws a much easier assignment for his next start with the Colorado Rockies coming to town this weekend. While the Rockies roughed him up for four runs in five innings on Aug. 2, that was at Coors Field. They’ve been horrendous on the road (16-46), setting Skenes up for another strong outing.
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