By blowing Friday’s series opener and getting shut out Saturday, the Pittsburgh Pirates faced the prospect of being swept at home Sunday by their cross-state rival Philadelphia Phillies.
However, looking to prevent that for the Pirates was Paul Skenes, who brought a 16-inning scoreless streak into the game.
Opposing Skenes at PNC Park was Philadelphia veteran Zack Wheeler, a two-time NL Cy Young runner-up with the Phillies.
Ultimately, Skenes was outdueled by Wheeler and allowed five runs in a 6-0 defeat as the Pirates were shut out for the second straight game in front of a sellout crowd of 37,820.
The sweep is the second of the season suffered by the Pirates (24-23), who dropped four straight to the St. Louis Cardinals from April 27-30.
Skenes, riding back-to-back stellar eight-inning outings into Sunday, was masterful to start, but allowed two runs in the fifth and another in the sixth before manager Don Kelly replaced him with Isaac Mattson.
Mattson was then unable to escape a bases-loaded, no-outs jam, with two more runs allowed in the frame charged to Skenes.
On the day, Skenes (6-3, 2.62 ERA) allowed six hits with a walk and seven strikeouts, throwing 56 of his 92 pitches for strikes.
Wheeler (3-0, 1.99 ERA) pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing just four hits with a walk and eight strikeouts.
To begin, Skenes struck out Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper for a quick top of the first.
By delivering a spotless third, Skenes entered new territory with a career-long 19-inning scoreless streak, having previously pitched 18 straight without allowing a run from July 11 to Aug. 2, 2025.
Wheeler matched Skenes’ dominance early on, as the two had both recorded five punchouts through three innings.
Skenes let up his first hit of the afternoon with two outs in the fourth, when Jake Mangum, freshly activated off the injured list and starting in center field, failed to track down a ball off the bat of Alec Bohm that was ruled a double.
To begin the fifth, Skenes issued a leadoff walk to Adolis Garcia on five pitches, his first free pass in 39 innings dating to April 13.
After J.T. Realmuto singled, moving Garcia to third, the Phillies (24-23) took a 1-0 lead on an RBI groundout by Justin Crawford, ending Skenes’ scoreless streak at 20 frames.
Konnor Griffin made a diving stop on Crawford, nabbing him at first to record the second out of the fifth, but Turner then singled into right field to bring home Realmuto from second, putting Philadelphia up 2-0.
The Pirates looked to have a bit of momentum in the bottom of the fifth, when Spencer Howritz led off with a single, but Griffin grounded into a force out and was later gunned down trying to steal second, with Jared Triolo striking out to end the frame.
Philadelphia made it a 3-0 game in the sixth, as Harper led off with his 12th home run of the season, a solo shot to center field on a 1-0 offering from Skenes.
Bohm singling and Marsh following with a double to put runners on second and third with no outs spelled the end of Skenes’ afternoon, with Kelly turning things over to Mattson.
Mattson got started with a four-pitch walk of Garcia and then disaster struck, as Bryson Stott ripped a two-run double into right-center field, with both runs charged to Skenes.
From there, Mattson got out of the inning without allowing any further damage.
For a moment, the Pirates got on the board in the bottom of the sixth, when Brandon Lowe looked to have hit his 13th home run of the season over the Clemente Wall.
But upon review, fan interference was called, a fan having reached over the railing to catch the ball on the fly, with Lowe being sent to second base with a double.
Bryan Reynolds then grounded out to end the inning.
Yohan Ramirez came on for the Pirates in the seventh and delivered a clean frame, striking out Schwarber, Harper and Bohm.
Wheeler’s final inning in the seventh featured a leadoff single by Nick Gonzales but the Pirates were unable to capitalize.
In the eighth, Dennis Santana took over on the hill and Philadelphia soon went up 6-0, as Stott went yard over the Clemente Wall for a solo shot.
Jonathan Bowlan, relieving Wheeler in the eighth, maintained the shutout while the Pirates went down quietly in order against Tanner Banks in the ninth.