In less than a week, Paul Skenes will have spent exactly one calendar year as a big leaguer, having made his MLB debut May 11, 2024.
Over that span, from a performance standpoint, there has appeared to be little the 6-foot-7 Pittsburgh Pirates phenom and reigning NL Rookie of the Year can’t do.
But beating the St. Louis Cardinals has been one task that’s eluded him so far.
Entering his Tuesday start at Busch Stadium, Skenes was 0-3 in four outings against the Cardinals, who have accounted for half of the 22-year-old’s career losses to date, including April 8, when he allowed a career-high five earned runs.
Looking to help the Pirates achieve some semblance of stabilization after a winless start to May, Skenes dueled Cardinals starter Matthew Liberatore but took the loss in a 2-1 defeat.
Skenes (3-4, 2.77 ERA) allowed both runs with two outs in the sixth inning on an RBI double to Alec Burleson, which erased the Pirates’ 1-0 lead.
The inning was Skenes’ last. He gave up three hits with six strikeouts and, for the second straight start, four walks, tying his career-high.
“He battled,” manager Derek Shelton said of Skenes during the SportsNet Pittsburgh postgame show. “There were times where it looked like he lost his command, then he came back and really executed pitches. He gave up, what, four hits? Did a pretty good job.
“He made a bad pitch, a fastball that leaked out over (the plate) to Burleson that ended up being the difference in the game.”
Skenes threw 60 of his 102 pitches for strikes.
Facing a one-run deficit heading into the seventh, the Pirates (12-25) were unable to produce the equalizing run in two innings against the St. Louis bullpen. The Pirates finished with only four hits.
Liberatore (3-3, 3.07 ERA) lasted seven innings, allowing one run on three hits while walking three and recording eight strikeouts, tying a career-high.
Skenes and Liberatore each recorded three strikeouts through the game’s first two innings.
While holding the Cardinals scoreless, efficiency eluded Skenes to start, as by the end of the third inning, he was at 58 pitches, having issued a pair of walks and navigating through several deep counts.
However, Skenes bounced back with an eight-pitch scoreless fourth, which included his second strikeout of Nolan Arenado.
Liberatore countered with two more strikeouts in the fifth, bringing his total to seven, while allowing only one hit, a first-inning single to Ke’Bryan Hayes.
In the sixth, Hayes collected his and the Pirates’ second hit against Liberatore, a two-out RBI double that scored Oneil Cruz from second base. Cruz had led off with a walk and stole second base, his 15th steal of the year.
Unfortunately for Skenes, he was unable to preserve the lead, as in the bottom of the sixth, St. Louis took a 2-0 lead courtesy of the RBI double by Burleson that landed just fair down the left-field line.
The two-run double came on Skenes’ 101st pitch of the night, with Arenado (single) and Willson Contreras (walk) aboard.
“I walked a guy with two outs – I made a mistake,” Skenes said. “ … Just (wasn’t) executing.”
In the seventh, Dennis Santana kept it a 2-1 game, delivering a scoreless frame, while David Bednar pitched a clean eighth.
The Cardinals (18-19) needed only four hits Tuesday to pick up the win, take the series and hand the Pirates their sixth straight loss.
“Overall, we only had four hits,” Shelton said. “… Offensively, we’ve got to figure it out. We have to figure out how to keep going.”
St. Louis’ Gordon Graceffo pitched a scoreless ninth, picking up a save.