Pirates Ace Paul Skenes Wins All 3 Battles vs. Dodgers Superstar Shohei Ohtani

“Big on big.” That’s how Paul Skenes described his matchup with Shohei Ohtani after the Pittsburgh Pirates played the Los Angeles Dodgers at PNC Park last season.

Skenes, one of the top pitchers in baseball, and Ohtani, a once in a lifetime level talent, squared off twice last season. Both had success against each other. Skenes struck out Ohtani three times, but Ohtani hit a home run and a single in six at-bats against the Pirates’ ace.

The two battled once again on Friday night at Dodger Stadium for the opening game of a weekend series.

As the Dodgers’ leadoff hitter, Ohtani was the first batter of the game Skenes faced. In the first at-bat of the game, the Pirates’ starter got Ohtani to fly out to center field on a 3-2 fastball up in the zone.

With a runner on second and one out in the bottom of the third, Ohtani once again stepped into the box.

On the sixth pitch of the at-bat, Ohtani hit a tapper back to Skenes, who made the heads up play of throwing to third base to catch Andy Pages in a rundown. Pages was eventually tagged out for the second out of the inning.

Earlier in the at-bat, the 22-year-old did this:

This pitch from Paul Skenes to Shohei Ohtani 😳 pic.twitter.com/syurkA8NoM

— MLB (@MLB) April 26, 2025

Pages was again on second base for version 3.0. The reigning National League MVP jumped ahead in the count 3-1, but the reigning National League Rookie of the Year battled back with a splitter to force a full count and a devastating curveball for a swinging strike three.

PAUL SKENES 😤

He strikes out Shohei Ohtani with this ridiculous curveball 😳 pic.twitter.com/6q6DW7jKmn

— MLB (@MLB) April 26, 2025

Skenes’ strikeout of Ohtani capped off a three-strikeout inning, giving the big right-hander seven through 5.0 shutout innings.

Three good battles between two superstar players. The pregame hype met expectations, and the Pirates’ top starter came out on top all three times.