PHILADELPHIA -- A little over a month ago, on April 14, the Pirates put up 10 runs in a win against the Nationals. Paul Skenes had a quality start and picked up a win, and things were looking up for the Pirates’ ace right-hander.
Skenes has made six starts since that outing against the Nationals. The Pirates have scored just 10 runs in those starts. That included Sunday, when Skenes struck out nine batters over eight innings, but Brandon Marsh was able to beat out a potential double play in the fifth for an RBI groundout, which ended up being the only run of the game. Skenes’ first Major League complete game ended up coming in a losing effort, as the Phillies completed their sweep of the Pirates with a 1-0 win at Citizens Bank Park.
“He pitched unbelievably well and deserved to win in that one,” manager Don Kelly said.
Sunday may have been Skenes’ best outing of the season. After walking 11 over his last three outings, he issued just one free pass all game while surrendering three hits. His nine strikeouts matched a season high, and his 22 whiffs equaled a career high.
He leaned heavily on his fastballs, mixing them both inside and outside before peppering the Phillies with five different types of breaking and offspeed pitches. Five times the Citizens Bank Park radar gun read triple digits (they all fell in the 99.5 to 99.7 mph range, so Skenes isn’t counting them as true 100s, even the one he blew by Bryce Harper for a third strike). He was as efficient as he was dominant.
"It's real, man,” Harper said of Skenes. “He's got good stuff. It's plus-plus. And, obviously, he is where he is because he's a really good guy and a really good pitcher. It's fun to watch.”
And he lost his third straight decision in the process. Mick Abel struck out nine over six innings in his Major League debut, and the Phillies’ bullpen took it from there.
You have to go all the way back to Jason Schmidt in 1999 for the last time a Pirate tossed a complete game with nine or more strikeouts and took the loss. Individual wins and losses are one thing, but Kelly knows what really matters to Skenes.
“He's pitching for team wins,” Kelly said. “He's not as concerned about personal stuff, which speaks to who he is. He went out there today and pitched really well.”
The Pirates’ offensive woes have not been limited to just the days Skenes takes the bump. They are last in the league in runs scored, and they have gone 23 consecutive games with four or fewer runs scored. It’s just the 12th time since 1901 that a team has had a stretch like that in a single season, with the 2022 Marlins being the only other club to do so over the last 50 years.
The lack of runs just gets exacerbated whenever the ace is putting up Cy Young-quality numbers. Skenes has not won a game in May. The Pirates haven’t won a game he’s pitched in May. In that stretch of six starts with just 10 runs of support, Skenes has pitched to a 2.11 ERA (38 1/3 innings pitched, nine earned runs).
Skenes subscribes to the “control what you can control” mindset. It’s an old baseball adage for a reason. And really, it’s all he can do right now.
“Obviously, not everything is within my power,” Skenes said. “Not everything is within any other individual in here's power. That's how we get going a little bit. Just control what we can control on an individual level. That's been my focus. That's always been my focus. That's probably been a little bit more difficult this last month or so, but there's nowhere else to go but to keep going. Just got to keep going."
There’s plenty of ball to be played, so moving forward is all one can do. While it probably wasn’t the circumstances he envisioned it happening, Skenes also tossed his first career complete game Sunday, albeit an eight-inning one.
So do you get the ball authenticated for an eight-inning complete game?
"Only if it gets authenticated with an asterisk next to it,” Skenes said with a smirk before revealing that a ball had already been marked.