Paul Skenes was brilliant, yet again, tonight at Citi Field.
He recorded his sixth quality start, tied for second in Major League Baseball, in limiting the Mets to a run and six hits over six innings, struck out six and walked three before the Pirates collapsed late in a 4-3 loss.
"That’s the goal when I step on the mound," Skenes said. "That’s what I’m built up to do. It’s my job, frankly. Just going to keep doing my best to do that.”
His 2.63 ERA ranks 17th in the majors, and he's thrown 54 2/3 innings while limiting hitters to a .201 average. Despite that, he's 3-4 and the Pirates are 3-6 when he starts.
Here, he worked himself out of a few jams early. He got Pete Alonso to ground into a 6-4-3 double play in the first inning and then stranded Franciso Lindor at third after striking out Brandon Nimmo on four pitches. He also stranded runners on first and second in the sixth when Francisco Alvarez grounded into an inning-ending double play, preserving a 1-1 tie.
"Big pitch mix there. He’s got the velo, he’s got the sweeper, he can go to the splinker, the splinker can get the double play," Don Kelly said. "So he’s got a lot of different pitches in his arsenal that he can go to to really get the timing off on the hitter and get ground balls when he needs it."
Despite that, Skenes said he felt like he was "spraying" the ball. He's walked 11 batters over his past three starts. Skenes said after his previous start that he wasn't concerned about it, but said tonight that it's something he's working through.
"That’s probably as bad as it gets and being able to get out of there with one run is a good thing," Skenes said. "But if we’re more efficient, maybe we go seven, maybe we go eight. Yeah, just go to be better.”
Nimmo, Jeff McNeil and Mark Vientos all doubled off Skenes and McNeil drove in Nimmo for the only run scored against the Pirates' ace. Lindor also hit two singles off Skenes.
"I thought we did a great job, collectively as a team, with our approach," Alonso told reporters in the Mets clubhouse. "I mean, granted, Paul still threw the ball really well, but, for us, putting some good swings on the ball and working counts. He's a really good arm, but for us, we did the best we could and battled. There were some pitches that we missed but, again, he's a great arm and I thought we did a great job of grinding away, chipping away as an offense."
• Nimmo robbed Joey Bart of a game-tying home run in the eighth inning, reaching above the padded wall in left center to make the catch:
"As soon as I realized, 'I kind of have a shot at this,' I wanted to make sure I was keeping my feet moving and not get to close to the wall so I could get a really good jump on it," Nimmo told reporters in the Mets clubhouse. "I knew that if I could get a really good jump on it, I would have a really great shot at catching it."
• Umpires tend to get only grief, but Lance Barrett was right on top of Luisangel Acuña slickly slipping his left hand under Henry Davis' tag at the plate on New York's tiebreaking run in the seventh, following an Alonso infield single off Hayes' glove. Kelly challenged, but it was quickly upheld.
Acuña told reporters in the Mets clubhouse afterward that he slid feet first to to first avoid injury because catcher's will normally block the plate. However, Davis was positioned behind the plate for the tag.
"I was trying to just tap the bag there," Acuña said.
• Kelly's right-handed reliever options were slim tonight in the later innings after heavy usage against the Braves. Dennis Santana was down after throwing 43 pitches over three days, Tanner Rainey pitched Saturday and Sunday, throwing 19 and eight pitches, respectively and Chase Shugart had pitched Friday and Saturday, throwing 11 and 19. Colin Holderman hadn't pitched since Wednesday.
So, when Alonso came up in the seventh inning with Acuña on second, Kelly was looking to get a righty on righty matchup and said Holderman was the guy in that situation.
"Yea and Holdy is going to have to get some big outs for us," Kelly said. "He did a great job that next inning and if that ball is a couple inches the other way, (Hayes) makes a play. It’s just a tough break there."
The result was the video just above.
• Bryan Reynolds' 0-for-5 dropped his average to .204. He's hitting .069 over his past seven games and .117 over his past 15. He had three opportunities to drive in runs and succeeded once. He stranded two runners in the fifth inning with a strikeout and grounded into a double play to end the ninth with runners on first and second.
"I just feel like he’s trying to do a little too much right now and trying to carry the team and put the team on his back," Kelly said.
• Tommy Pham served a one-game suspension tonight for "inappropriate actions toward fans" April 22 in Anaheim, Calif. He's already been activated.
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THE ASYLUM
Greg Macafee
5:05 am - 05.13.2025NEW YORKExtra Bases: Skenes admits 'spraying'
Paul Skenes was brilliant, yet again, tonight at Citi Field.
He recorded his sixth quality start, tied for second in Major League Baseball, in limiting the Mets to a run and six hits over six innings, struck out six and walked three before the Pirates collapsed late in a 4-3 loss.
"That’s the goal when I step on the mound," Skenes said. "That’s what I’m built up to do. It’s my job, frankly. Just going to keep doing my best to do that.”
His 2.63 ERA ranks 17th in the majors, and he's thrown 54 2/3 innings while limiting hitters to a .201 average. Despite that, he's 3-4 and the Pirates are 3-6 when he starts.
Here, he worked himself out of a few jams early. He got Pete Alonso to ground into a 6-4-3 double play in the first inning and then stranded Franciso Lindor at third after striking out Brandon Nimmo on four pitches. He also stranded runners on first and second in the sixth when Francisco Alvarez grounded into an inning-ending double play, preserving a 1-1 tie.
"Big pitch mix there. He’s got the velo, he’s got the sweeper, he can go to the splinker, the splinker can get the double play," Don Kelly said. "So he’s got a lot of different pitches in his arsenal that he can go to to really get the timing off on the hitter and get ground balls when he needs it."
Despite that, Skenes said he felt like he was "spraying" the ball. He's walked 11 batters over his past three starts. Skenes said after his previous start that he wasn't concerned about it, but said tonight that it's something he's working through.
"That’s probably as bad as it gets and being able to get out of there with one run is a good thing," Skenes said. "But if we’re more efficient, maybe we go seven, maybe we go eight. Yeah, just go to be better.”
Nimmo, Jeff McNeil and Mark Vientos all doubled off Skenes and McNeil drove in Nimmo for the only run scored against the Pirates' ace. Lindor also hit two singles off Skenes.
"I thought we did a great job, collectively as a team, with our approach," Alonso told reporters in the Mets clubhouse. "I mean, granted, Paul still threw the ball really well, but, for us, putting some good swings on the ball and working counts. He's a really good arm, but for us, we did the best we could and battled. There were some pitches that we missed but, again, he's a great arm and I thought we did a great job of grinding away, chipping away as an offense."
• Nimmo robbed Joey Bart of a game-tying home run in the eighth inning, reaching above the padded wall in left center to make the catch:
"As soon as I realized, 'I kind of have a shot at this,' I wanted to make sure I was keeping my feet moving and not get to close to the wall so I could get a really good jump on it," Nimmo told reporters in the Mets clubhouse. "I knew that if I could get a really good jump on it, I would have a really great shot at catching it."
• Umpires tend to get only grief, but Lance Barrett was right on top of Luisangel Acuña slickly slipping his left hand under Henry Davis' tag at the plate on New York's tiebreaking run in the seventh, following an Alonso infield single off Hayes' glove. Kelly challenged, but it was quickly upheld.
Acuña told reporters in the Mets clubhouse afterward that he slid feet first to to first avoid injury because catcher's will normally block the plate. However, Davis was positioned behind the plate for the tag.
"I was trying to just tap the bag there," Acuña said.
• Kelly's right-handed reliever options were slim tonight in the later innings after heavy usage against the Braves. Dennis Santana was down after throwing 43 pitches over three days, Tanner Rainey pitched Saturday and Sunday, throwing 19 and eight pitches, respectively and Chase Shugart had pitched Friday and Saturday, throwing 11 and 19. Colin Holderman hadn't pitched since Wednesday.
So, when Alonso came up in the seventh inning with Acuña on second, Kelly was looking to get a righty on righty matchup and said Holderman was the guy in that situation.
"Yea and Holdy is going to have to get some big outs for us," Kelly said. "He did a great job that next inning and if that ball is a couple inches the other way, (Hayes) makes a play. It’s just a tough break there."
The result was the video just above.
• Bryan Reynolds' 0-for-5 dropped his average to .204. He's hitting .069 over his past seven games and .117 over his past 15. He had three opportunities to drive in runs and succeeded once. He stranded two runners in the fifth inning with a strikeout and grounded into a double play to end the ninth with runners on first and second.
"I just feel like he’s trying to do a little too much right now and trying to carry the team and put the team on his back," Kelly said.
• Tommy Pham served a one-game suspension tonight for "inappropriate actions toward fans" April 22 in Anaheim, Calif. He's already been activated.
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