CINCINNATI — After being pulled two outs into the first inning of his Opening Day start against the New York Mets, Paul Skenes had a statistical line that sounds more appropriate for an April Fool’s joke.
The Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander, who led the majors with a 1.97 ERA and was the unanimous 2025 National League Cy Young winner, was 0-1 with a 67.50 ERA, 9.00 WHIP and an .800 batting average-against.
The Cincinnati Reds provided the perfect antidote for Skenes, who has had a brief history of dominating the NL Central rival.
Skenes returned to form with five strikeouts over five innings and got run support on homers by Oneil Cruz and Bryan Reynolds to lead the Pirates to an 8-3 win and three-game series victory Wednesday afternoon before 15,007 at Great American Ball Park.
“I know that I’ve pitched well against them,” Skenes said. “I want to pitch well against every team. The only outing that matters is the next one. The past success and that stuff doesn’t mean anything. I’ve got to pitch well.”
Skenes entered with a 4-0 record, 0.31 ERA and 40 strikeouts against two walks in five career starts against Cincinnati. The lone run he allowed to the Reds came in his first start on June 17, 2024. Since then, Skenes had tossed 23 scoreless innings in his past four starts against the Reds — with 16 strikeouts without a walk and a .154 BAA in 11 scoreless innings over two starts at Great American Ball Park.
Despite sluggers Ryan O’Hearn and Brandon Lowe getting the day off, the Pirates pounded nine hits and scored eight runs for the second consecutive game. They spotted Skenes an early 3-0 lead when Reynolds hit a two-out single, Marcell Ozuna drew a full-count walk and Cruz crushed lefty Andrew Abbott’s 2-1 curveball 407 feet to right field for his third home run in two games.
“I think the team responded really well,” Kelly said. “To see O’Hearn and Lowe not in there and other guys step up to carry it, we had good at-bats, even the ones that weren’t hits.”
Skenes walked leadoff batter TJ Friedl, then struck out Matt McLain and Elly De La Cruz and got Sal Stewart to ground into a forceout. Skenes didn’t allow a hit until the fourth inning, when De La Cruz singled and scored on Nathaniel Lowe’s double to right field to cut it to 3-1 and end the scoreless streak at 26 innings.
“He’s such a competitor and, with the way he gets after it, he has that unique ability,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said of Skenes. “Even with that leadoff walk, he dials it back in and gets back in the zone. It’s really impressive.”
The Pirates extended their lead to 4-1 in the sixth when Cruz singled, then advanced around the bases as Nick Yorke and Jared Triolo drew four-pitch walks and Spencer Horwitz drew a bases-loaded walk.
Skenes (1-1) allowed one run on three hits and two walks on 77 pitches (51 strikes) over five innings, drawing six of his 11 whiffs and three of his nine called strikes with a four-seam fastball that averaged 97.6 mph. Kelly said the Pirates had targeted Skenes — coming off a 37-pitch outing — to throw about 80 pitches, so they didn’t want to push his limit.
“Still a work in progress,” Skenes said, “but nice to give some volume and be out there for more than two-thirds of an inning.”
Lefty Mason Montgomery relieved Skenes for the sixth inning, only to walk Stewart and surrender a 410-foot homer to pinch hitter Eugenio Suarez that cut it to 4-3. Isaac Mattson relieved Montgomery, then pitched a clean seventh. Justin Lawrence followed with a 1-2-3 eighth inning for the Pirates.
After Horwitz singled and Henry Davis was hit by a pitch by Reds closer Emilio Pagan, Nick Gonzales hit a two-run single to left field to give the Pirates a 6-3 lead. Reynolds followed by driving a 2-1 fastball 413 feet to right field for a five-run cushion.
The Pirates (3-3) head back for the home opener against the Baltimore Orioles at 4:12 p.m. Friday at PNC Park riding a two-game win streak, with Cruz and Reynolds rejuvenated and Skenes back on track.
“I’m looking forward to going back to Pittsburgh. If you cherry pick the time period, I’ve spent more time in Cincinnati over the past six months than I have in Pittsburgh. Cincinnati’s great, but it’s not Pittsburgh,” Skenes said. “Looking forward to coming back. The fans are going to react however they will. I’m not expecting anything, good or bad. We have a different group than we had last year and the year before that.
“I’m really excited to go back to Pittsburgh. However the fans greet us, great. We saw it last year. They showed up for the home opener, then we weren’t playing well enough after that for them to keep showing up the rest of the year. We just have to keep playing well, and hopefully they’ll show up.”