1 week Ago
TribLIVE's Daily and Weekly email newsletters deliver the news you want and information you need, right to your inbox. Paul Skenes vs. the powerhouse Los Angeles Dodgers is a showdown that's already repeatedly captivated the baseball world in Skenes' short tenure as a big-leaguer.
Friday's series opener for the Pittsburgh Pirates in Los Angeles marked the third time Skenes has met the Dodgers, as he went 1-1 against Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Co. in 2024. Skenes taking the hill at Dodger Stadium predictably created enough buzz for MLB Network to pick up the game and broadcast it to a national audience.
Over 61⁄3 innings, he again lived up to the hype, blanking the defending World Series champions, striking out nine and helping the Pirates to a 3-0 win. Skenes (3-2, 2.39 ERA) allowed five hits, walked none and threw 69 of his career-high 108 pitches for strikes.
"Really just about executing," Skenes said on the SportsNet Pittsburgh postgame show. "Sometimes there's a two or a three in the run column when you execute, but (tonight) it was a zero, so felt good. I felt like we pulled it out.
You saw it today with a lot of the hits that (the Dodgers) got — even when you execute, they're still going to find ways to get on. ..
. That's just the nature of it. They're really good hitters.
Just have to find ways to get though innings." Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto entered the night with a 0.93 ERA, but the Pirates knocked him out of the game after five innings, scoring three runs without any extra-base hits.
The Pirates, fresh off a series win in Anaheim against the Angels, struck in the first inning before Skenes...
Justin Guerriero.
