Paul Skenes Dominates as Pirates Edge D-backs; Reynolds Hits Huge Milestone
Paul Skenes pitched one of the best games of his career and Bryan Reynolds reached a huge milestone for the Pittsburgh Pirates in their 1-0 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on Wednesday night.
Scoring Plays
Top 1st, 1-0 PIT: Brandon Lowe hammered a 435-foot solo blast to dead center off right-hander Michael Soroka (4-2) to give the Pirates (20-17) an early lead.
Key Moments
Brandon Lowe’s ninth home run of the season was enough run support for Paul Skenes. Last year, Pirates second basemen combined for eight home runs.
The only time Skenes (5-2) found himself in any danger was when the Diamondbacks (17-18) had two on with one out in the fifth inning, but the Pirates starter escaped without any damage.
Player of the Game
Paul Skenes matched a career-high with eight innings and blanked the Diamondbacks on two hits. He did not walk a batter and punched out seven, including striking out the side in order in the eighth. It’s tied for the second-longest outing of his career and the first time he’s gone eight innings since doing so against the Houston Astros last year on June 8.
Skenes retired the first 14 batters he faced.
Stat to Know
Bryan Reynolds singled in each of his first two at-bats and reached 1,000 for his career. He is one of only five Pirates in team history with at least 1,000 hits, 200 doubles and 140 home runs, along with Roberto Clemente, Andrew McCutchen, Dave Parker and Willie Stargell.
Notable Performances
- Paul Skenes: 8.0 innings, two hits, no runs, no walks, seven strikeouts, 97 pitches/65 strikes
- Brandon Lowe: 2 for 4, one home run, one RBI, one run
- Bryan Reynolds: 2 for 4, one steal
Noteworthy
- Paul Skenes is now 3-0 with a 0.69 ERA (2er/26ip) in four career starts against the Diamondbacks. His 0.88 ERA (5er/51.1ip) against the National League West in eight starts since the beginning of last year ranks first in MLB.
- Konnor Griffin extended his career-long hit streak to eight games with a single up the middle in the top of the seventh.
- Spencer Horwitz hit his first-career triple in the second inning.
- Gregory Soto earned his second save of the season.
Up Next
RHP Mitch Keller (3-1, 2.85 ERA) will look to lead the Pirates to a series win in Thursday’s rubber match. RHP Zac Gallen (1-2, 4.45 ERA) starts for Arizona. First pitch: 3:40 p.m. ET on SportsNet Pittsburgh/100.1 FM & AM 1020
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