Pirates No-Hit in Paul Skenes’ Final Tune Up

The Pittsburgh Pirates fell 4-0 on Saturday, March 22, as the Baltimore Orioles’ pitching staff worked a no-hitter.

Oneil Cruz, Andrew McCutchen and DJ Stewart each drew a walk, and that was all for the Buccos’ offense, who put a runner on second base just once in the contest. Paul Skenes took the mound for Pittsburgh and allowed one hit and one walk in 3.1 innings, striking out four batters across 51 pitches in his final tune-up before serving as the Pirates’ Opening Day starter on Thursday, March 27 against Miami.

Ryan Borucki, Tim Mayza and Colin Holderman carried a shutout into the seventh inning, when the Orioles tagged Peter Strzlecki for a three-run rally that all but put the game away against the Pirates’ hapless offense.

Pittsburgh’s pitchers racked up 11 strikeouts, while the Orioles fanned ten Pirates… the lone category in which the Buccos emerged victorious. The no-hitter makes the Pirates’ last home game at LECOM Park this season: they’ll face the Toronto Blue Jays starting at 1:07 p.m. on Sunday, March 23 in their penultimate spring training game.