Paul Skenes dominates yet remains grounded, showcasing his elite pitching and cool demeanor as the Pittsburgh Pirates win.
PITTSBURGH – Paul Skenes always lives up to his reputation.
The Pittsburgh Pirates ace shut down the San Diego Padres for 6 1/3 innings Tuesday night at PNC Park. Yet the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner was unmoved. He never is.
“I felt pretty good the whole time,” Skenes said. “I wouldn’t say great, I wouldn’t say bad. It was solid all-around. I think the line’s probably a little bit better than it was, but I’m happy with it.”
Despite his modesty, Skenes’ line was excellent as the Pirates beat the Padres 7-1. He allowed one run on two hits over 6 1/3 innings, striking out six and walking one. The Pirates (7-4) can win the series with a win on Wednesday.
Earlier, Skenes carried a no-hitter into the sixth, but Fernando Tatis Jr. broke it up with a single. With Pittsburgh (7-4) leading 2-0 and two on, Skenes induced Jackson Merrill to ground into an inning-ending double play.
After Xander Bogaerts homered with one out in the seventh inning for the Padres, cutting the Pirates' lead to one run, Skenes was lifted at the 87-pitch mark. Although Skenes might have thought it was just another night at the ballpark—even with the game-time temperature at a chilly 41 degrees—Pittsburgh manager Don Kelly appreciated the outing.
"His stuff was really good,” Kelly said. “He got in a rhythm there in the middle of the game with all of his pitches and was really working ahead, getting ahead with the fastball and the sweeper. Hard to tell from the side exactly where those are but early in the game he wasn't missing by much it seemed. It seemed like the fastball in to lefties, away to righties, was just missing off the plate, but he was around the zone and in attack mode all night.”
Pirates’ teenage shortstop Konnor Griffin played behind Skenes for the first time after debuting last Friday, getting a close look at why Skenes is considered perhaps the best pitcher in the big leagues.
“Those hitters, as someone said, they don’t have a chance because with how dominant he is, and it’s cool to be right behind him,” the 19-year-old Griffin said. “Yeah, that was awesome. Getting him a win, when a guy throws like that, you've got to score runs for that man. That was an awesome win, everybody did their job, and I was glad to be a part of it.”
Even if Skenes was unfazed by it all.
“Just one game at a time,” Skenes said. “Got to bounce back, good or bad, and put us in a position to win. Yeah, one game at a time.”
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