Diamondbacks to Face Electric Paul Skenes in Pittsburgh

The Arizona Diamondbacks will look to rebound from their devastating three-game sweep at the hands of the Houston Astros.

From now until after the July 31 trade deadline, Arizona will be on the road. They'll begin the road trip with a three-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park.

The Diamondbacks are 50-53. While they have all but confirmed they'll be sellers at the deadline, 2025 is far from over, and any significant win streak could still put them right back into Wild Card contention.

The Pirates, meanwhile, reside in the basement of the NL Central at 42-61. They are, however, coming off a sweep of the AL Central-leading Tigers.

Below are the pitching matchups for each game of the upcoming series, including a tough challenge in the electric Paul Skenes:

Arizona Diamondbacks vs Pittsburgh Pirates Pitching Matchups

Friday, July 25: RHP Ryne Nelson (3.52 ERA) vs RHP Mike Burrows (4.70 ERA)

Ryne Nelson has been outstanding for Arizona. He's helped lead this battered rotation alongside Merrill Kelly, blowing hitters away with his elite fastball.

Nelson tossed six innings of one-run baseball against the St. Louis Cardinals his last time out, allowing just four hits and a walk. He's allowed one or fewer runs in eight of his last 11 starts and five of his last seven.

Nelson tossed 6.2 brilliant shutout innings against the Pirates on just 84 pitches back in May.

Right-hander Mike Burrows has mixed solid starts with blowup outings. He was knocked around for six runs in just 1.1 innings on July 12, but struck out six over five innings with two earned runs his last time out.

The D-backs got to Burrows for five runs (four earned) over 3.1 innings on May 27 — his second start of the season.

July 26: RHP Merrill Kelly (3.32 ERA) vs LHP Andrew Heaney (5.03)

Kelly has had to grind through his last few starts, but has continued to work his way out of traffic to deliver solid results.

Related Content: D-backs' Merrill Kelly Reveals True Thoughts About Trade Deadline

Despite issuing four walks his last time out, he still managed to go six innings with just two earned runs allowed. He has a 2.63 ERA in four July starts so far, and a 3.68 career ERA against Pittsburgh with a 3-0 record in four starts.

The veteran right-hander has been as steady and reliable as ever, and is one of the D-backs' more valuable trade assets as the deadline approaches.

Left-hander Andrew Heaney has had a difficult season so far. He's 4-9 with a 5.03 ERA. He was blown up for seven earned runs on nine hits over four innings his last time out.

Heaney gave up five runs over five innings against Arizona in May, and has a career 8.25 ERA facing the D-backs. Arizona has struggled to win games in which they face left-handed starters, however.

July 27: RHP Zac Gallen (5.58 ERA) vs RHP Paul Skenes (1.91 ERA)

There it is, the electric matchup. Unfortunately, Zac Gallen's ugly 2025 makes it one-sided.

Gallen has struggled to a 5.58 ERA over 21 starts. While it looked like he'd turned a corner at the beginning of July, it was more of the same struggles his last two outings.

He's given up 12 runs in his last 11 innings, including three home runs. His 23 homers allowed is a career high in a season, and it's still July.

He was bit for a familiar-looking six runs over five innings against Pittsburgh in May, and has a career 4.15 ERA against the Pirates.

National League All-Star Game starter Paul Skenes has been as electric in 2025 as he was in his rookie season, if not more so.

Skenes sports a minuscule 1.91 ERA and has struck out 137 ovr 127 innings while walking just 31. He's given up just two earned runs in the month of July with three shutout starts.

He's only pitched 21 innings in those four July starts, but has also pitched into or through the eighth inning three times this season.

Skenes carved up the D-backs over 6.2 scoreless innings in May, striking out seven at Chase Field.

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