Pirates' Paul Skenes Has a Clear MLB Demon

Pirates manager Don Kelly didn't see anything in particular that has made the Cardinals a difficult out against Skenes, but that like the Brewers, they are a tough team at times and will fight off pitches.

"I think that sometimes teams go up there, try to work his pitch count, try to get that up," Kelly said. "It doesn't seem to be the case. They're going up there swinging and trying to get their swing off. Sometimes the stuff is so good that he gets into foul ball wars because it's harder to put in play. But they put some good swings on the ball today."

What Went Wrong for Skenes Against the Cardinals

It was a rough beginning for Skenes, as he gave up a solo home run to second baseman JJ Wetherholt, throwing a fastball on the outside, upper part of the plate that the rookie sent into the right field seats.

Skenes then allowed a single to designated hitter Iván Herrera, which was originally ruled an error by Pirates third baseman Nick Gonzales.

He came back with a strikeout, but then gave up his second home run of the game to right fielder Jordan Walker, who perfectly timed a sweeper inside to get it over into the left field bleachers, making it 3-0.

In just a matter of four batters, Skenes had given up the most runs since he had allowed five in the first inning on Opening Day vs. the New York Mets at Citi Field on March 26, which saw him pulled after 37 pitches.

Skenes managed to get out of the first inning here, with back-to-back strikeouts and then had a quicker second inning, with just one hit allowed.

He started the third inning with a strikeout, then shortstop Konnor Griffin committed an error on a throw and would allow an RBI-single to third baseman Nolan Gorman to make it 4-1, an unearned run.

Skenes had a quick fourth inning, but the fifth inning saw him give up a single to Wetherholt, throw a wild pitch to move him to second baseman and then give up an RBI-single to first baseman Alec Burleson to fall behind 5-1.

That last hit, to Skenes credit, was a changeup way off the plate tha Burleson got his bat onto for a weak hit to left field that normally would've been a swing-and-miss anywhere else.

The 23-year old talked about not pitching the way he wanted to early on, but that he felt better as the game progressed.

"Yeah I mean, definitely at the beginning of the outing for sure. Just didn't have the best command of everything in those first couple innings," Skenes said. "Settled in a little bit and they did a pretty good job the last few innings. Just had to grind through it."

Some of the issues Skenes had was with the hard contact he gave up, as the Cardinals had 14 batted ball events, eight of which were hits, but six of those were hard contact.

The Cardinals particularly attacked his four-seam fastball, with three hard hits off of that, which included the home run to Wetherholt and the RBI-single to Gorman, which was right over the plate.

Despite some of his struggles, Skenes still posted nine strikeouts, a season-high and generating a 36% whiff rate on his changeup and a 35% whiff rate on his fastball, with three strikeouts on each pitch.

It's his most strikeouts since he also threw nine vs. the Arizona Diamondbacks back on July 27, 2025 at PNC Park and his 102 total pitches are his most on the season and the last time he hit the century-mark was with 105 pitches vs. the Detroit Tigers on June 19, 2025 at Comerica Park.