CHICAGO -- Wrigley Field is the one place Paul Skenes has consistently dominated. The Friendly Confines have certainly been friendly to Pittsburgh's right-hander, as he entered with 16 scoreless innings and 22 strikeouts over three career starts at Wrigley.
Amid a down season, Skenes still found his way on Chicago’s North Side Saturday. The Pirates' ace looked like an ace, tossing seven innings while allowing just four hits and two runs, nearly helping Pittsburgh to a win over the Cubs. Unfortunately for Skenes and the Pirates, his performance was all for naught. Gregory Soto allowed two runs in the eighth to blow the game and hand Pittsburgh a 4-3 loss, sending the club deeper down the NL Wild Card standings.
In one of Skenes’ most pivotal starts of his career -- based on Pittsburgh’s postseason hopes and with starters Braxton Ashcraft and Mitch Keller on the injured list -- he delivered and pitched into the seventh inning for the sixth time this season, completing seven for the fifth time.
“[It's] been a little bit of a battle this year for that, so it's great to cover my innings,” Skenes said. “You talk about having two starters down ... I think we've done a really good job of covering the innings that we need to. So really just trying to keep the line moving on that.”
Skenes exited after throwing 82 pitches (53 strikes). The ace hadn’t pitched into the eighth inning since May 12 against the Rockies. He surpassed 90 pitches in just one of his past five starts.
Pirates manager Don Kelly defended the decision to pull him in a practically must-win game with only two runs allowed, adding that Skenes “gave us everything he had today.” Skenes wasn’t frustrated with the decision.
“It’s very rare that you look up in a game that we play on offense and the pitcher can get to the seventh inning,” Kelly said. “That’s one thing we’ve been great at -- just not letting guys get deep into games.”
Skenes worked consistently through the strike zone as his command returned to pristine form. Michael Busch got the scoring started with a solo home run in the first off a 95.6 mph four-seamer. Pedro Ramírez followed with a solo shot in the third, this time off a 94.8 mph four-seamer in the heart of the plate. Other than those two blasts, Skenes cruised through seven while inducing weak contact.
In his first start back from the injured list, Ryan O’Hearn launched a three-run homer in the sixth to give Pittsburgh a one-run lead. The Pirates threatened further in the frame, pushing Clay Holmes out of the game, but they left the bases loaded.
Things went awry for Pittsburgh after Skenes exited. Needing just six outs to secure a victory, Kelly went with a lefty in Soto in preparation for NL MVP Award favorite Pete Crow-Armstrong, who was due up third in the eighth.
Soto allowed a leadoff double to Ramírez before loading the bases with two outs. He lost command, hitting two batters and walking two more while the Cubs scored two runs in the frame despite notching just one hit. Kelly said he felt comfortable leaving Soto in after he struck out Crow-Armstrong despite facing four straight righties.
Yohan Ramírez warmed in the bullpen in case he was needed to help Pittsburgh escape the jam, but bullpen aces Luke Weaver and Mason Montgomery were nowhere to be found.
“There’s no doubt this one hurts,” Kelly said. “Maybe [in] hindsight, I should’ve had Weaver up to come in. ... With Soto, he’s been so good and has made some big pitches. The wheels haven’t fallen off like that. He’s been really good for the most part for us.”
The wheels did fall off for Soto. With only 13 games to play and plenty of room to make up in the NL Wild Card race, they might have fell off for the Pirates, too.