Despite having Paul Skenes on the mound, the Pirates lost to the Marlins, 4-2, on Sunday afternoon at PNC Park. In an alarming trend, the team has now gone more than a month without winning a game started by its ace.
On Sunday, Skenes gave the Pirates a great opportunity to win, tossing six solid innings while allowing two runs on four hits with 10 strikeouts and one walk. The two runs came on solo home runs in the second inning by Heriberto Hernández and Joe Mack. Other than that, Skenes looked to be in his typical dominant form.
"I thought it was a really good outing, probably other than two pitches," Skenes said. "But, I think it was a really good outing."
The Pirates last won a game started by Skenes on May 12, a 3-1 win over the Rockies at PNC Park. They have lost six straight games and are now just 6-9 this season when he starts.
Skenes pitched eight innings in that win over the Rockies and had also gone eight innings in his previous start. However, he failed to pitch deeper than 5 1/3 innings in each of his next four starts, allowing a combined nine earned runs in outings against the Phillies on May 17 and the Blue Jays on May 23.
At the same time, Skenes is still pitching better than his 6-6 record and 2.85 ERA suggest. Even with the two home runs he allowed Sunday, his FIP sits at 2.69. When a pitcher's FIP is lower than his ERA, it often indicates bad luck, poor defensive support or that the hits he's allowed have come in particularly bad times.
"I think when you're looking at it, we just haven't been able to put a complete game together," Don Kelly said. "Last year, it was maybe the run support. We've had starts throughout those six where we've scored runs. We've had starts that offense has been there, other things have happened. I don't think we can point to one thing that's consistent throughout all the starts. We just need to continue to go out there. Paul gave us a chance today."
With the way Skenes is pitching, he's still going to give the Pirates a chance to win every time he takes the mound. The more concerning trend is the lack of offense as the team deals with injuries to regular starters in the lineup, including Konnor Griffin and Oneil Cruz.
Skenes piled up wins in April while the Pirates scored 49 runs across his first six starts. Since then, however, the offense has provided just 22 runs in his last eight outings.
"I don't know if it's frustration. Just gotta keep going and win the next one," Skenes said of the streak without winning game. "It's baseball. I've dealt with it before. It's a team sport. It's just the nature of the game. It's baseball."
THE ASYLUM
Another game with Skenes, yet another loss
Despite having Paul Skenes on the mound, the Pirates lost to the Marlins, 4-2, on Sunday afternoon at PNC Park. In an alarming trend, the team has now gone more than a month without winning a game started by its ace.
On Sunday, Skenes gave the Pirates a great opportunity to win, tossing six solid innings while allowing two runs on four hits with 10 strikeouts and one walk. The two runs came on solo home runs in the second inning by Heriberto Hernández and Joe Mack. Other than that, Skenes looked to be in his typical dominant form.
"I thought it was a really good outing, probably other than two pitches," Skenes said. "But, I think it was a really good outing."
The Pirates last won a game started by Skenes on May 12, a 3-1 win over the Rockies at PNC Park. They have lost six straight games and are now just 6-9 this season when he starts.
Skenes pitched eight innings in that win over the Rockies and had also gone eight innings in his previous start. However, he failed to pitch deeper than 5 1/3 innings in each of his next four starts, allowing a combined nine earned runs in outings against the Phillies on May 17 and the Blue Jays on May 23.
At the same time, Skenes is still pitching better than his 6-6 record and 2.85 ERA suggest. Even with the two home runs he allowed Sunday, his FIP sits at 2.69. When a pitcher's FIP is lower than his ERA, it often indicates bad luck, poor defensive support or that the hits he's allowed have come in particularly bad times.
"I think when you're looking at it, we just haven't been able to put a complete game together," Don Kelly said. "Last year, it was maybe the run support. We've had starts throughout those six where we've scored runs. We've had starts that offense has been there, other things have happened. I don't think we can point to one thing that's consistent throughout all the starts. We just need to continue to go out there. Paul gave us a chance today."
With the way Skenes is pitching, he's still going to give the Pirates a chance to win every time he takes the mound. The more concerning trend is the lack of offense as the team deals with injuries to regular starters in the lineup, including Konnor Griffin and Oneil Cruz.
Skenes piled up wins in April while the Pirates scored 49 runs across his first six starts. Since then, however, the offense has provided just 22 runs in his last eight outings.
"I don't know if it's frustration. Just gotta keep going and win the next one," Skenes said of the streak without winning game. "It's baseball. I've dealt with it before. It's a team sport. It's just the nature of the game. It's baseball."
Want to participate in our comments?
Want an ad-free experience?
Become a member, and enjoy premium benefits!
We’d love to have you!