Paul Skenes’ Gem Lifts Pirates To MLB Lead In This Category

With Paul Skenes leading the charge, the Pittsburgh Pirates have delivered a handful of spotless pitching performances this season.

Skenes campaigned for the National League Cy Young Award by tossing seven scoreless innings in Sunday’s 4-0 win over the Colorado Rockies. Although the Pirates remain last in the NL Central at 57-74, they lead the majors in one area.

MLB.com’s Alex Stumpf noted that the Pirates notched their MLB-best 16th shutout of the season on Sunday. They broke a tie with the San Diego Padres atop the leaderboard.

The Pirates have notched six of those shutouts with Skenes on the mound. That’s as many or more than six teams, matching the six submitted by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Skenes hasn’t allowed a run in 10 of his 27 starts this season. The 23-year-old improved his ERA to 2.07, the lowest mark among all qualified pitchers.

MLB noted that Skenes has the second-best ERA of any pitcher since 1920 through his first 50 career starts. He narrowly trails Vida Blue’s 2.01 at 2.02.

Sunday also marked Pittsburgh’s second shutout of the series, which eliminated Colorado from playoff contention. The Pirates began the three-game set with a 9-0 rout over the Rockies on Friday. Braxton Ashcraft allowed one hit through five innings before Bubba Chandler tossed four scoreless frames from the bullpen in his MLB debut.

The Pirates have yielded two runs over their ongoing four-game winning streak, and yet they entered Sunday 15th in team ERA (3.96). They’ve also allowed 10 or more runs in six losses since the All-Star break.

Pittsburgh will turn to Mitch Keller to sustain its hot streak against the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday.

More: What Multi-Time Cy Young Winner Wants To See From Pirates’ Paul Skenes