On June 3, 2025, Pirates ace Paul Skenes turned in a stellar start against the Astros at PNC Park, striking out eight while allowing just three hits and a walk in eight innings of one-run ball. But Houston got the last laugh, adding two runs in the ninth against reliever Dennis Santana en route to a 3-0 victory.
On Wednesday -- exactly one year to the day after Skenes’ excellent outing -- Skenes and the Astros will tangle once again in a tantalizing matchup all around. The 2024 National League Rookie of the Year and 2025 NL Cy Young Award winner is set to start against Houston on Wednesday (8:10 p.m. ET) at Daikin Park.
Skenes will face an Astros lineup led by American League MVP Award candidate Yordan Alvarez, who entered Wednesday ranked toward the top of MLB in home runs , (21second), on-base percentage (.419, second), slugging percentage (.645, second) and OPS (1.064, first).
It isn’t just Alvarez: The Astros’ dangerous lineup includes shortstop Jeremy Peña, who entered the series with three home runs in his previous six games, and first baseman Christian Walker, who has hit 16 home runs with an .825 OPS this season. Skenes is certainly familiar with Walker: The veteran slugged a solo homer off Skenes when the Astros and Pirates met in 2025 in Pittsburgh, the only run Skenes allowed in his eight-inning gem.
Walker is the only active Astro to go yard against Skenes, who has strong numbers against several of Houston’s key hitters. Third baseman Isaac Paredes is 0-for-10 against Skenes with three strikeouts, Peña is 0-for-6, and center fielder Jake Meyers is 1-for-6 with a K.
The Pirates phenom made his only previous start in Houston back on July 29, 2024, and it was another good one: Skenes allowed two runs (one earned) over six innings, striking out six in a 5-3 Pittsburgh victory.
But the right-hander has struggled a bit in recent weeks, allowing at least three runs in each of his past three starts. Against the Cubs on Thursday, his last time out, he exited after 5 1/3 innings and took the loss, even though he struck out 10 and only one of the three runs he gave up was earned.
Although he takes an impressive 2.89 ERA into Wednesday’s game in Houston, Skenes will be opposed by a pitcher with even better numbers. The Astros will send Spencer Arrighetti, who has a 7-1 record and 1.34 ERA in eight starts, to the mound. Arrighetti, who has struck out 43 in 47 innings of work, has not faced the Pirates in his three-year career.
Both lineups will be tough to navigate: The Pirates rank fourth in MLB in runs (311) and are tied for fourth in OPS (.740), while the Astros are 11th in runs (277) and seventh in OPS (.726). For Skenes, it won’t be easy to solve Alvarez and the Astros, but he’s handled Houston before and will have to do so again in what should be an entertaining face-off.