PITTSBURGH — Paul Skenes is in a routine.
Pitch deep into a game. Allow a single run, if that. Walk away without a win.
That didn’t change Sunday. The 23-year-old Pittsburgh Pirates ace worked 7⅔ innings against the Philadelphia Phillies, giving up one unearned run on two hits with seven strikeouts and one walk. He was pulled with the game tied 1-all.
Skenes remained 4-6 in his sophomore season despite lowering his ERA to 1.88, second best in the National League behind the New York Mets‘ Kodai Senga (1.59).
This time, he didn’t mind the no-decision. Pittsburgh won 2-1, completing a three-game sweep and handing Philadelphia its fifth straight loss.
“I think we’ve been playing pretty good ball for a little bit now and either haven’t come out with [wins] or lost by a run or something like that in a few games,” Skenes said. “I’ve been happy with the baseball we’ve been playing. It’s nice to finally get some wins out of it, too. It’s easy to go on a losing streak, too, so we’ve just got to keep going.”
Skenes threw 97 pitches (62 strikes). He got through the first two batters of the eighth on four pitches before manager Don Kelly signaled for rookie right-hander Braxton Ashcraft, who entered as fans’ booing over the decision subsided.
“We felt like [Skenes] was done,” Kelly said. “He emptied the tank there that inning. Just felt like it was an opportunity to go to Ashcraft in that moment.
“Unbelievable. What can you say [about Skenes]? Just continued to fill up the strike zone, elite stuff. At the beginning, really sharp. Kind of in the middle, looked like it got it away from him. That’s just what he’s shown, that he’s able to dial it back in and just dominate the strike zone. He was unbelievable again today.”
Ashcraft picked up his first win in the majors after Andrew McCutchen hit a go-ahead, broken-bat single in the eighth.
The 25-year-old started with a walk of Brandon Marsh but recovered by getting Rafael Marchan to ground out to second. Returning for the ninth, he forced Alec Bohm into a game-ending double play as rain began to pour.
“It means a lot after somebody puts up a really good outing,” Ashcraft said. “[Skenes] has done that consistently this year. It means a lot to us, as a team, to be able to go out and get him that win. He didn’t get the win. I got the win. But, I mean, he got it just as much as I did.”
It was nothing out of the ordinary. Skenes gave up one run on three hits with eight strikeouts in eight innings against the Houston Astros on Tuesday in his previous outing, but the Pirates lost 3-0.
Skenes is 1-4 in his past eight starts, even though he has given up just five runs in 42⅓ innings over his past six. Pittsburgh has averaged 3.35 runs in his 14 starts and he is 0-2 in three games where he has gone into the eighth, despite allowing three runs total (two earned).
Cristopher Sanchez nearly matched Skenes on Sunday, giving up two runs and striking out nine in seven innings.
Dueling with another starter is fine with Skenes, but he doesn’t mind the alternative.
“It’s fun,” Skenes said. “Pitching in 10-0 games is fun, too.”