Shohei Ohatni, Dodgers No Match for Paul Skenes; Pirates Open Series With Win

In a brief career that has been filled with stellar starts, Paul Skenes might have been at his finest on Friday night at Dodger Stadium.

Skenes (3-2) tossed 6.1-shutout innings against the reigning World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers and led the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 3-0 win to open a three-game series.

How We Got There

Oneil Cruz led off the game against Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto (3-2) with a walk and later stole second base. With two outs, Enmanuel Valdez singled to right field to plate Cruz and give the Pirates (11-16) a 1-0 lead.

In the top of the fifth inning, Cruz drove in Henry Davis with a base hit to right and later scored on Ke’Bryan Hayes’ single to center field.

David Bednar, in his first save opportunity since getting recalled from the minor leagues, sealed the win with a scoreless ninth that included a pair of strikeouts. Ryan Borucki and Dennis Santana also chipped in on the shutout.

Key Moment

The Dodgers (16-10) had a man on third with nobody out in the third inning, but Skenes was able to prevent a run from scoring thanks to a groundout, a strikeout and a flyout. After that, it was smooth sailing.

Star of the Game

Paul Skenes threw a career-high 108 pitches and struck out a season-high nine batters in his sixth start of the season. The Dodgers have three MVPs atop their lineup in Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman. They went a combined 2 for 9 against Skenes with two strikeouts.

What an outing for Paul Skenes 👏

He finishes his night with a filthy strikeout of Will Smith 👀 pic.twitter.com/QwHVoUlxZM

— MLB (@MLB) April 26, 2025

Notable Pirates’ Performances

• Paul Skenes: 6.1 innings, five hits, no runs, no walks, nine strikeouts, 108 pitches/69 strikes
• Oneil Cruz: 1 for 4, one RBI, two runs, one walk, one steal
• Ke’bryan Hayes: 1 for 3, one RBI, one walk
• Enmanuel Valdez: 1 for 3, one RBI, one walk

Stat to Know

With another steal, Oneil Cruz has been successful in 32-consecutive stolen base attempts. That’s tied with Tony Womack (1997) for the second-longest streak in Pirates’ history since 1922. Max Carey holds the record at 37-straight.

Noteworthy

• OF Tommy Pham was suspended one game by MLB but is appealing. He hit sixth and played left field.
• Adam Frazier extended his hitting streak to nine game with a 1 for 4 performance.

Up Next

RHP Mitch Keller (1-2, 4.18 ERA) will start for the Pirates in the second game of the series on Saturday night. RHP Roki Sasaki (0-1, 3.20 ERA) will start for the Dodgers. First pitch: 9:10 p.m. ET.