Paul Skenes did more than his part in the Pirates' 6-5, 10-inning comeback victory over the Brewers tonight at PNC Park, even if it came hours earlier.
In six innings -- 101 pitches -- he struck out eight and held Milwaukee to one run on four singles and two walks, leaving with a 2-1 lead. That lowered his ERA to 2.36, 11th-lowest among all qualified starting pitchers across Major League Baseball.
More impressive, he'd opened this one with a 23-pitch first inning, having given up singles to Jackson Chourio and Christian Yelich, then bounced right back In the second inning to strike out Sal Frelick and Jake Bauers:
“Very similar to Philly," Don Kelly said. "He reached back and had a little more velo. He was in the zone and able to mix it up and go to his off-speed when needed to. I think that just the attack with his fastball has been key for him. Being able to get ahead. That first inning was a little shaky, I guess you would say for Paul. Being able to settle down and get through six was great. He finished strong, too. The sixth inning got a little dicey there, but he was able to finish it out and get the out to end it.”
Rhys Hoskins' RBI single and Oneil Cruz's throwing error put Milwaukee runners at second and third with two outs, but Frelick then bounced out to second.
The four-seam fastball accounted for 49 of Skenes’ 101 pitches, averaging 98.3 mph as hitters swung and missed on five, fouled off 10, and put six into play. He threw 10 splinkers that had four whiffs, four fouls, and two in play.
"It compliments each other," he said. "At the end of the day, I think it all plays how it plays because of the fastball and the fastball presence, which was pretty good today. I'm happy with it. Just got to keep going with it."
Tonight marked Skenes' fourth straight quality start and eighth of the season out of 11 total. In these past four, he’s given up five runs and pitched just 29 2/3 out of 68 2/3 innings with a lead. Almost unfathomable.
"It's really hard to win a Major League Baseball game," Skenes said. "At the end of the day, it just comes down to execution, so just getting back to that as a staff and then obviously as an offense, too. Focus needs to continue to be execution. The way I kind of look at it is, there are probably seven or eight pitches over the course of a baseball game that decide the game. I know it's going to show on TV that it comes down to one pitch in the ninth inning or whatever, but that's why it's so hard to be a closer. The margin of error is tough there. The margin of error is tight everywhere. We've just got to circle back to execution and do that to the highest level that we can."
• In the 10th inning, Isiah Kiner-Falefa facing Abner Uribe with Alexander Canario on second and Adam Frazier having just been intentionally walked at first, hit his third single of the night to right field on what looked like the eventual game-winning hit but Canario came home wide to home plate and was called out.
"I believe he did. I didn't see the replay, from everything I've heard but they called him out of the baseline,” Kelly said of the play. “Which, honestly -- and when I played, I respect Mark Wegner, one of the best umpires in the game in my opinion -- I've never seen that called there, as far as avoiding a tag at home plate. You've got three feet from when the fielder goes to apply the tag. But it was ruled out of the baseline, so it wasn't something we could even challenge."
• The Pirates faced Milwaukee’s best starting pitcher, Freddy Peralta, who had a 2.55 ERA and 1.12 WHIP with a 5-3 record. The Pirates' batters, led by Henry Davis, worked Peralta for 101 pitches in only 4 1/3 innings. In Davis’ first two plate appearances, he saw 19 pitches and that was a big reason why the Brewers had to go to their bullpen early, which hurt them late in the game keeping Uribe on the mound for his second inning in the fateful 10th.
Kelly on Davis’ at-bats: “Really good. That one at bat, 3-2, he fouled off a bunch. He kept fouling off good pitches too, fastballs, sliders, he was covering everything. Then got the catchers’ interference which got guys on base and got things rolling for us there. He had good at bats again tonight.”
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THE ASYLUM
Eric Bowser
4:42 am - 05.24.2025North ShoreExtra Bases: Skenes keeps cranking
Paul Skenes did more than his part in the Pirates' 6-5, 10-inning comeback victory over the Brewers tonight at PNC Park, even if it came hours earlier.
In six innings -- 101 pitches -- he struck out eight and held Milwaukee to one run on four singles and two walks, leaving with a 2-1 lead. That lowered his ERA to 2.36, 11th-lowest among all qualified starting pitchers across Major League Baseball.
More impressive, he'd opened this one with a 23-pitch first inning, having given up singles to Jackson Chourio and Christian Yelich, then bounced right back In the second inning to strike out Sal Frelick and Jake Bauers:
“Very similar to Philly," Don Kelly said. "He reached back and had a little more velo. He was in the zone and able to mix it up and go to his off-speed when needed to. I think that just the attack with his fastball has been key for him. Being able to get ahead. That first inning was a little shaky, I guess you would say for Paul. Being able to settle down and get through six was great. He finished strong, too. The sixth inning got a little dicey there, but he was able to finish it out and get the out to end it.”
Rhys Hoskins' RBI single and Oneil Cruz's throwing error put Milwaukee runners at second and third with two outs, but Frelick then bounced out to second.
The four-seam fastball accounted for 49 of Skenes’ 101 pitches, averaging 98.3 mph as hitters swung and missed on five, fouled off 10, and put six into play. He threw 10 splinkers that had four whiffs, four fouls, and two in play.
"It compliments each other," he said. "At the end of the day, I think it all plays how it plays because of the fastball and the fastball presence, which was pretty good today. I'm happy with it. Just got to keep going with it."
Tonight marked Skenes' fourth straight quality start and eighth of the season out of 11 total. In these past four, he’s given up five runs and pitched just 29 2/3 out of 68 2/3 innings with a lead. Almost unfathomable.
"It's really hard to win a Major League Baseball game," Skenes said. "At the end of the day, it just comes down to execution, so just getting back to that as a staff and then obviously as an offense, too. Focus needs to continue to be execution. The way I kind of look at it is, there are probably seven or eight pitches over the course of a baseball game that decide the game. I know it's going to show on TV that it comes down to one pitch in the ninth inning or whatever, but that's why it's so hard to be a closer. The margin of error is tough there. The margin of error is tight everywhere. We've just got to circle back to execution and do that to the highest level that we can."
• In the 10th inning, Isiah Kiner-Falefa facing Abner Uribe with Alexander Canario on second and Adam Frazier having just been intentionally walked at first, hit his third single of the night to right field on what looked like the eventual game-winning hit but Canario came home wide to home plate and was called out.
"I believe he did. I didn't see the replay, from everything I've heard but they called him out of the baseline,” Kelly said of the play. “Which, honestly -- and when I played, I respect Mark Wegner, one of the best umpires in the game in my opinion -- I've never seen that called there, as far as avoiding a tag at home plate. You've got three feet from when the fielder goes to apply the tag. But it was ruled out of the baseline, so it wasn't something we could even challenge."
• The Pirates faced Milwaukee’s best starting pitcher, Freddy Peralta, who had a 2.55 ERA and 1.12 WHIP with a 5-3 record. The Pirates' batters, led by Henry Davis, worked Peralta for 101 pitches in only 4 1/3 innings. In Davis’ first two plate appearances, he saw 19 pitches and that was a big reason why the Brewers had to go to their bullpen early, which hurt them late in the game keeping Uribe on the mound for his second inning in the fateful 10th.
Kelly on Davis’ at-bats: “Really good. That one at bat, 3-2, he fouled off a bunch. He kept fouling off good pitches too, fastballs, sliders, he was covering everything. Then got the catchers’ interference which got guys on base and got things rolling for us there. He had good at bats again tonight.”
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