Pirates' Paul Skenes Finishes Historic Month

PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Pirates right-handed starting pitcher Paul Skenes showed why he is one of the best in baseball with an exceptional month of July.

Skenes finished with a 2-1 record in five starts, just two earned runs allowed over 27.0 innings pitched for a 0.67 ERA, with 21 hits, four hit batters and three walks allowed to 36 strikeouts, a .212 opposing batting average and a 0.89 WHIP.

His 0.67 ERA in a single month ranks fifth lowest for a Pirates pitcher, since 1920 with a minimum of 25.0 innings pitched, according to Dan Zangrilli of 93.7 The Fan. Zane Smith had a 0.66 ERA in September 1990, Jim Nelson posted a 0.64 ERA in June 1970, Dock Ellis had a 0.63 ERA in September 1972 and Bob Moose had a 0.34 ERA September 1975.

Skenes posted back-to-back outings of five scoreless innings pitched against the St. Louis Cardinals at PNC Park on July 1 and against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park on July 6, with his 10 strikeouts against the Mariners a season-high.

The only runs he gave up in the month came on a two-run home run to Minnesota Twins designated hitter Trevor Larnach at Target Field on July 11 in a 2-1 loss.

Skenes then started for the National League in the All-Star Game at Truist Park on July 15, throwing a scoreless first inning with two strikeouts. He became the first pitcher ever that started consecutive All-Star Games in the first two seasons of their career and just the second Pirates pitcher, along with Bob Friend, who did so in 1956 and 1960.

He returned from the All-Star break with back-to-back scoreless, six-inning outings over the Detroit Tigers on July 21 and the Arizona Diamondbacks on July 27, both at PNC Park.

Skenes allowed just three hits, a walk and hit a batter in each of those starts, posting six strikeouts in the 3-0 shutout win over the Tigers and nine strikeouts in the 6-0 shutout win over the Diamondbacks

Those two wins marked the first time this season that Skenes has won back-to-back games and the first time since doing so vs. the Chicago Cubs on Sept. 3, 2024 at Wrigley Field and vs. the Miami Marlins on Sept. 9, 2024 at PNC Park.

The numbers don't concern Skenes too much, but he's glad that he's pitching well later in the season and heading into August.

"Um, yeah, I didn't look at that. Yeah, cool," Skenes said. "July, I mean, that's great, just being able to go out there and put us in a  position to win. Just got to keep going. August is tough. You know, not only physically, so really, I think a lot of July I’ve been trying to get ready for that. So I just gotta keep doing that, keep up my body in good positions and go out there and keep pitching well." 

Pirates fans have loved watching Skenes pitch since his debut on May 11, 2024, but even more so now, they simply can't get enough of him.

When Pirates manager Don Kelly went to the mound to talk to Skenes with two outs in the top of the sixth inning vs. the Diamondbacks, the hometown crowd jeered and booed loudly, wanting their ace on the mound.

Skenes would end his outing on a first pitch flyout, finishing with 99 pitches and to a raucous, standing ovation from the Pirates faithful.

While fans were clearly angry, Skenes knew that Kelly was never taking him out in that situation and just wanted to make sure he was good to go for the final out.

"He walked out, I think it was like in Minnesota, like he wanted to get talked out of it, So I was just like, ‘Hey Donnie, what do you got?’ And he was like, ‘What do you got?’ And I'm like, ‘I got another hitter.’ And that was it," Skenes said. "So I felt bad when I saw him walking out, because I knew we were going to burn a visit, but didn't end up needing it, so our relievers stepped up and did a good job."

Skenes now has a 6-8 record through 22 starts in 2025, as the Pirates have scored four or more runs in 17 of 22 starts.

He also ranks amongst the best pitchers in the MLB, with the lowest ERA (1.83), lowest opposing batting average (.184), fourth lowest WHIP (0.90), fifth most innings pitched (133.0) and the sixth most strikeouts (146).

Skenes hasn't allowed a run in the first inning in any of his 22 starts, which is tied for the second most all-time in a single season, behind Bob Shawkey, who had 27 starts without giving up a first-inning run in 1923, according to Sarah Langs of MLB.com.

His 1.83 ERA and 146 strikeouts over 22 starts match the highest for any pitcher since Los Angeles Dodgers left-handed pitcher Clayton Kershaw did so in 2014, going on and winning both NL Cy Young and NL MVP honors, according to Zangrilli.

Skenes also has a 1.89 ERA over his first 45 career starts, which marks the third lowest since the stat became official in 1913, according to Langs.

Only two pitches have a lower ERA, Ferdie Schupp (1913-17) at 1.64 and Ernie Shore (1914-15) at 1.78, who both pitched in the dead-ball era (1900-20), which saw lower run scoring and home runs compared to generations that followed it.

Skenes has also allowed just one run over less over at least five innings pitched in 25 of his first 45 games, marking the most appearances of that sort for any pitcher since at least 1901, according to Matthew Brownstein of the New York Times.

With just two months remaining, Skenes will go after his first NL Cy Young Award and, hopefully, a first NL MVP as well.