Skenes came away with a no-decision in Wednesday's 4-3 extra-innings win over the Reds, allowing four hits over six scoreless innings. He struck out seven without walking a batter.
The young ace made his closing statement on a strong NL Cy Young Award case, racking up 18 swinging strikes among his 85 pitches (57 total strikes), and Skenes left the mound in line for his 11th win of the season before Dennis Santana blew the save in the ninth. Skenes leads the Senior Circuit in ERA (1.97) and WHIP (0.95) and is tied for the lead with Logan Webb and Jesus Luzardo in strikeouts at 216, although Webb lines up for one more outing this weekend.
Skenes (10-10) took the loss Tuesday, giving up three runs on seven hits and three walks over 3.2 innings as the Pirates were downed 4-1 by the Cubs. He struck out six.
The young right-hander hurt his Cy Young case with his shortest outing of the season, one that got off to an ominous start when Michael Busch led off the game with a solo homer. Despite the stumble, Skenes still leads the NL in strikeouts (209) and ERA (2.03) and sits third in innings with 181.2, and his 0.96 WHIP is second only to the Padres' Nick Pivetta (0.95). Skenes lines up to make one more start before the end of the season, on the road in Cincinnati next week.
Pirates' Paul Skenes: Crosses 200-strikeout plateau
Rotowire
Skenes came away with a no-decision in Wednesday's 2-1 extra-inning loss to the Orioles, allowing only two hits over five scoreless innings. He struck out eight without walking a batter.
The young ace was lifted after just 64 pitches (43 strikes), but that still gave Skenes plenty of time to rack up his 200th strikeout of the season -- becoming the eighth pitcher in Pirates history to accomplish the feat. Through 178 innings in his first full season in the majors, he's posted an MLB-leading 1.92 ERA, while his 0.92 WHIP is second to Detroit's Tarik Skubal and his 203 Ks are third behind Boston's Garrett Crochet (228) and Skubal (222). Skenes will look to keep burnishing his NL Cy Young Award resume in his next start, which lines up to come at home early next week against the Cubs.
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