PIRATES

Don Kelly's decision to pull Paul Skenes after throwing 97 pitches over eight scoreless innings may not have been a popular one, but there didn't seem to be anyone who lacked confidence in Gregory Soto's ability to shut the door here tonight. 

That includes Skenes himself. 

"When I came out, I didn’t know what the pitch count was," Skenes said. "I had a lot of confidence in Soto to finish it. I wasn’t worrying about it too much." 

Soto faced four batters and needed 15 pitches to finish off the Pirates' 1-0 win over the Diamondbacks, striking out José Fernandez on four pitches -- two sinkers at 97 and two sweepers in the mid to low 80s -- before walking Geraldo Perdomo at the top of the lineup. There was no panic after that free pass, though. Soto induced a flyout off the bat of Ketel Marte and Corbin Carroll grounded out to first to end the game. 

It was Soto's second save in three opportunities this season. He now has a 1.50 ERA, a 0.72 WHIP and a minuscule .102 batting average against over a team-high 18 appearances. In 18 innings, he's allowed three runs, walked seven and struck out 24. 

“He’s been lights out," Henry Davis said. "Really good stuff. Just filling it up and I think the slide step really makes it tough to hit. ... People don’t realize how hard it is to hit premium velocity when a guy has a slider like that. Then he’s slide stepping and he’s on you before you can even load your bat. It’s really tough to hit.”