Paul Skenes and Konnor Griffin shared the field for the first time as Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday, and the 23-year-old right-hander and 19-year-old rookie shortstop flashed why they are billed as generational talents.
The reigning National League Cy Young Award winner, Skenes flirted with a no-hitter for five-plus innings in recording six strikeouts with two hits and two walks for his first quality start of the season.
Griffin used his elite sprint speed for an infield single to snap out of a funk and scored from first on Oneil Cruz’s double down the right-field line in the fifth inning, then roped a two-run single in the eighth.
The Pirates went opposite field for 10 of their 12 hits and used a five-run eighth inning to pull away from the San Diego Padres for a 7-1 win before 9,061 at PNC Park.
Skenes (2-1) lowered his ERA from 9.53 to 5.25 by allowing one run in 6 1/3 innings. It was the deepest he’s taken a no-hit bid in a game since his rookie season, when he went seven innings without allowing a hit July 11, 2024 at Milwaukee.
Padres starter Nick Pivetta (1-2) struck out five of the first eight batters he faced and didn’t allow a hit until Henry Davis hit a fly ball that dropped between right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. and second baseman Jake Cronenworth in shallow right field for a double with two outs in the third. But Cruz grounded out to first to end the inning.
The only baserunners Skenes allowed through the first five innings were Manny Machado, on a walk in the second inning, and Miguel Andujar, who was hit by a 97.1 mph sinker on a full count with two outs in the fifth.
Spencer Horwitz singled to left, and Griffin snapped an 0-for-14 funk by sprinting an elite 30.2 feet per second to beat Machado’s throw from third for an infield single, his first hit since roping an RBI double in his MLB debut.
When Cruz hit a sharp grounder down the third-base line for a double, Griffin was hot on the heels of Horwitz and slid headfirst to beat Ramon Laureano’s throw to home plate and give the Pirates a 2-0 lead.
The Padres broke up Skenes’ no-hit bid in the sixth. After Cronenworth drew a leadoff walk and Laureano grounded into a forceout at second, Tatis singled to left. But Skenes got Jackson Merrill to ground into a 4-6-3 double play to keep the Padres scoreless and end the inning.
Ryan O’Hearn and Nick Yorke hit back-to-back singles off Bradgley Rodriguez with one out in the sixth, but he got Nick Gonzales to ground to Machado for a double play to end the rally.
With one out in the seventh, Xander Bogaerts lined a 2-2 fastball 383 feet to left field for his first home run to cut it to 2-1. It was the first homer allowed by a Pirates starting pitcher this season, ending a streak that lasted 53 2/3 innings over 10-plus games. That was the longest in MLB to start a season since the Boston Red Sox went 13 games in 1992.
Isaac Mattson relieved Skenes and got the final two outs of the seventh, and lefty Gregory Soto fielded a Cronenworth bunt, got Laureano to pop out to second and froze Tatis with a sweeper for a called third strike for a clean eighth.
The Pirates loaded the bases with one out in the eighth after successive singles by Bryan Reynolds and Ryan O’Hearn and an error by Bogaerts at shortstop on Yorke’s grounder up the middle. Gonzales drove in two runs with a single down the right field line to give the Pirates a 4-1 lead.
Jake Mangum followed with a pinch-hit RBI single to right to make it 5-1, and Griffin hit a two-run single to left-center to stretch it to a six-run advantage as the Pirates pounded five hits in the eighth.
Yohan Ramirez struck out Merrill and Machado and got Bogaerts to ground out to second to end the game.