Pittsburgh. – The young phenomenon
Paul Skenes continues to demonstrate why he is considered one of the most dominant arms in Major League Baseball. The ace of the
Pittsburgh Pirates threw
six scoreless innings to lead his team to a 5-3 victory over the
Los Angeles Dodgers at
PNC Park, completing a three-game sweep against the National League West leaders.
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With the performance, Skenes lowered his ERA to
1.98, the best in all of baseball, and improved his record to
10-9, eliminating the only criticism still leveled at his impressive season: not having a winning record.
The 23-year-old right-hander dominated the powerful Los Angeles offense, allowing only
two hits, with eight strikeouts and one walk, including two strikeouts to the MVP candidate,
Shohei Ohtani. “They call it ‘The Show’ for a reason,” Skenes said after the game. “Facing a team like the Dodgers and sweeping them at home is an opportunity you enjoy and don’t take for granted.”
The Pirates backed their starter with five runs against left-hander
Blake Snell, a two-time Cy Young winner. A run-scoring single by
Tommy Pham opened the scoring in the third inning, while a four-run rally in the fifth, capped by a two-run double by
Nick Yorke, extended the lead to 5-0.
Although the Dodgers tried to react with three runs in the ninth,
Colin Holderman got the last two outs to earn his first save since 2023.
Pittsburgh manager,
Don Kelly, did not skimp on praise for his ace:
“We all want that for him. Hopefully it’s this year. Paul has the mentality and the talent to be a Cy Young winner. For us, he already is”
If he were to win the award, Skenes would be only the
third pitcher in Pirates history to earn it, following
Vernon Law (1960) and
Doug Drabek (1990).
With the victory, Pittsburgh has won
12 of its last 16 games, showing a remarkable recovery since Kelly took over. “We have shown ourselves that we can compete and that gives us confidence,” concluded Skenes.
