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Paul Skenes gets set to make a pitch Tuesday night in St. Louis.

As he did following his previous start, Paul Skenes stood in front of his locker inside the visiting clubhouse tonight at Busch Stadium and appeared at a loss for words.

He did more than his part in allowing just two runs on three hits, while overcoming a career-high four walks and striking out six over six quality innings. However, the Pirates' punchless offense again failed to provide him with even subpar run support, leaving scarcely any margin for error in a 2-1 loss -- their sixth in a row -- to the Cardinals.

"I thought I was executing with two strikes better," said Skenes, who relied heavily on his fastball and splinker, while also turning to a heavy dose of sweepers and sinkers, and using his changeup in deeper counts. "(The changeup) was good, I threw it to (Nolan Arenado) twice, got him on it twice. Kind of one of those that we pull out when we see a chance to do it. ... I don't know the stats on (the sweeper). Feel wise, it's getting better, I know that."

The Pirates have yet to win in May, they've lost nine of 10, and they're on pace for 108 losses, which would be their most since 1952.

Ke'Bryan Hayes, who had half of their four hits here and their only extra-base hit, a sixth-inning RBI double, acknowledged the issue afterward:

"The pitchers -- the starters and the bullpen -- they've been doing a really good job and we just gotta pick them up and score runs," he said. "However that may be, whether it be drawing walks, getting that big hit, we just gotta find a way. They've been doing a really good job of picking us up, so we just gotta figure out how to pick them up."

The Pirates have either been shut out or limited to one run in 10 of their 37 games this season, or 27 percent. They've been limited to two runs or fewer in 14 games, or 38 percent, and three or fewer in 21 games, or 57 percent. And get this: They've been held to four runs or fewer in 13 straight games, the second-longest streak in Major League Baseball this season, and not far from the longest streak of its kind in franchise history, 17 games, set way back in 1908.

Skenes isn't alone in being deprived of run support, but the offense has particularly been unproductive with him on the mound, scoring seven total runs over his past four starts. After going 15-8 when Skenes started last year, the Pirates are 3-5 with him on the mound this season. 

He certainly wasn't perfect in this one. He threw 60 of 102 pitches for strikes and admittedly could have executed better at times. Still, he did what a staff ace is supposed to do and put his team in a position to secure a much-needed victory during a stretch in which they've lost nine of their last 10 dating back to April 26. 

"I think they have to control what they can control. It's not the old school National League where they can hit. They don't hit. And I've been pleased with our group. I think they've gone out and done a good job and not worried about that," Derek Shelton said of his starting pitchers. "We've just gotta figure it out offensively. We're not being very consistent. Right now, offensively, we're not getting things going. And we've tried some different lineups. We've tried lineup changes. We've tried consistency in lineups. We've just gotta keep exploring." 

The same offensive deficiencies are on display game after game, and it appears as if there are no answers as to how to collectively flip the switch and turn things around at the plate. 

"We’ve been in a little bit of a rough patch, but I think we just gotta figure out, first individually, what we’ve gotta do and then collectively as a team gotta figure out how to do it," Hayes said. "We were right there most of the game. I don’t know if it’s slowing the game down, I don’t know exactly what it is. We just gotta figure out what we need to do to get on a hot streak. This is what we do for a living, so there’s no excuses. Gotta figure it out, otherwise you lose. Hopefully people aren’t trying to put too much pressure on themselves. The game is hard enough as it is, so we just gotta get back to having fun, creating energy and getting things going.” 

Even for a pitcher of Skenes' caliber, the thin margin for error has to weigh heavy. He'll never admit that, though. He's said time and time again that every time he steps on the mound, he focuses on what he can control instead of worrying about what others are doing. 

He did just that throughout tonight's outing, nearly tossing six scoreless innings. He registered the first two outs of the sixth before one mistake in particular proved costly. Skenes allowed a single to Arenado, walked Willson Contreras on five pitches and left a first-pitch fastball, clocked at 99 mph, up in the zone to Alec Burleson: 

“There is no secret; it takes a little luck I feel like, and with a guy like him, you have to have a plan and stick to it for three or four at-bats,” Burleson told reporters in the Cardinals’ clubhouse. “That may not necessarily give you success that night, but it gives you the best chance for success. That’s what I did, and it worked out at a good time.”

Burleson attacked with an aggressive approach and made Skenes pay, as his two-run double down the left-field line provided the difference in the Pirates' 25th loss in 37 games played this season. 

"I walked a guy with two outs and then made a mistake," Skenes said when asked about what went awry in the inning. 

"He battled," Shelton said. "There were times where it looked like he lost his command but then he really came back and executed pitches. I mean he gave up, what? Three hits, four hits? He did a pretty good job. He made a bad pitch, a fastball that leaked out over to Burleson that ended up being the difference in the game."

And Skenes might have been able to overcome that one rough sequence had he been adequately supported by the players entrusted to produce with the bats in their hands.