PITTSBURGH – After flirting with history his last time out, Pirates right-hander Paul Skenes will take the mound in the series finale with St. Louis Thursday afternoon at 12:35 p.m. ET.
The two-time All-Star was perfect through his first 6 2/3 innings against the Brewers on the road last Friday before a hard chopper up the middle by Jake Bauers ended the historic bid. Skenes finished the inning and was pulled from the game after throwing 93 pitches, the most he’s delivered all season, and striking out seven. It was Pittsburgh’s third-longest perfect game bid in the Expansion Era (since 1961) – the team is one of 14 across MLB without one in their history.
Skenes, the reigning Cy Young Award winner, is 4-1 with a 2.48 ERA in his six starts this year. His ERA, which ballooned to 67.50 after a frustrating Opening Day start in which he didn't make it out of the first inning, has steadily declined throughout the course of April. He hasn't allowed more than one run or three hits in any start since that first outing on March 26, posting a 0.94 ERA in his five games since.
Skenes’ 2.01 ERA through his first 61 Major League starts is the lowest by any pitcher through 60 starts in the Live Ball Era (since 1920).
The 23-year-old is making his seventh career start against the Cardinals. He’s winless in those games (0-4), despite having a 2.39 ERA with 41 strikeouts to just seven walks over 37 2/3 innings against the Pirates’ divisional foes. He dealt five shutout innings his last time facing St. Louis on July 1 of last year.
Reigning Silver Slugger Award winner Alec Burleson is batting .353 (6-for-17) against Skenes all time. The only other Cardinals hitter with notable success against the right-hander is Victor Scott II (2-for-7 with a triple). Skenes has struck out both Jordan Walker (1-for-6) and Masyn Winn four times (3-for-18) in his career.