Pirates Morning Report: Skenes Comes Up Clutch

Final Score: Pirates 6 Diamondbacks 0

Why The Pirates Won: You could say that Paul Skenes was his good old dominant self. His line certainly looked it. He pitched 6 innings, giving up 3 hits, one walk, while striking out 9. He threw 99 pitches and lowered his ERA to 1.83. He got into 3 situations I will delve into when I get to key moments. The highlight of the 6-run Pirate offense was their aggressive base running. In the bottom of the 2nd, Oneil Cruz scored all the way from first on a Tommy Pham single. The score was 1-0 Pirates. In the bottom of the 3rd, Nick Gonzales scored with 2 outs on a Bryan Reynolds double. The Diamondbacks did a good job of getting the ball in. Gonzales just beat the play, with the catcher dropping the ball. Reynolds moved to third on the throw to the plate. Oneil Cruz followed with a 112 MPH shot to right for a single. Reynolds scored easily from 3rd. If he would have been on second, it would have been questionable if he could have scored. In the bottom of the 6th, Bryan Reynolds was hit by a pitch to start the inning. Oneil Cruz hit a 107 MPH bullet down the right field line. Again, the Diamondbacks did a good job of getting the ball in. Reynolds, hustling all the way, barely beat the throw. The Pirates led 4-0. After all the previous blunders on the bases, this was the best base running the Pirates had done all season. Now let’s get to the part where Skenes was his most brilliant.

Key Moments Of The Game. In the top of the 2nd, Jake McCarthy lined a one-out triple into left center field. Skenes bore down and struck out James McCann. He got the next batter, Alek Thomas, to pop out to end the inning. In the top of the 3rd, Tristin English led off with a double. Skenes then recorded a strikeout and a weak ground out to 2nd, moving the runner to third. Geraldo Perdomo popped out to Nick Gonzales to end that threat. Going into the top of the 4th, the Pirates had a 3-0 lead. The top of the fourth started with Eugenio Suarez being hit by a pitch. Skenes struck out Adrian Del Castillo. Jake McCarthy doubled down the left field line, which put runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out. Skenes struck out James McCann again, this time on 3 pitches. He fell behind 3-1 to Alek Thomas. Thomas swung at a changeup that was in the dirt. Skenes came right back with another changeup that was on the outside corner at the knees. Thomas whiffed. For 3 straight innings, the Diamondbacks got a runner to third base. In two of those innings, there was only one out. All three times they came up empty. They were 0 for 9 with runners in scoring position. For the last 5 innings, they had 2 hits. After a disastrous start, the Pirates ended the home stand 5-4.

Next Game; Tonight, Giants in San Francisco. Mitch Keller will be going for the Pirates. The Giants are just coming off being swept by the Mets at home. The Pirates will be playing a playoff contender who is fighting for its life. That can be good or bad. We will see. The trade deadline is Wednesday at 6 PM. I really can’t get too excited. This has been a horrible year for the Pirates. I do not expect much of an uplift no matter what the Pirates do. I think at least 5 players should be gone, not including Mitch Keller. If he goes, then it should be six. We should get to see a lot of young guys on the roster in August and September. That’s the key word, should.