Current:Home > MarketsPaul Skenes nearly untouchable: Phenom tosses six no-hit innings, beats Cubs in second MLB start-InfoLens
Paul Skenes nearly untouchable: Phenom tosses six no-hit innings, beats Cubs in second MLB start
View Date:2024-12-23 21:22:33
Paul Skenes needed just two starts to show Major League Baseball just how dominant he can be. And he’s still not scraping his ceiling.
Skenes struck out 11 Chicago Cubs in six no-hit innings at Wrigley Field and earned his first major league win as his Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Cubs, 9-3.
History will have to wait, however.
Pirates manager Derek Shelton lifted Skenes with a no-hitter intact, an unthinkable act in earlier eras but one of preservation in this one – and the Pirates do, in fact, have a $9.2 million signing bonus and an immeasurable amount of organizational hope tied to Skenes.
But never mind the future: The present’s already looking much sunnier with the 6-foot-6 LSU product less than a year removed from being the No. 1 pick in the draft.
Follow every MLB game: Latest MLB scores, stats, schedules and standings.
Skenes’ 100th and final pitch registered 100 mph on the radar gun, and Cubs leadoff man Michael Tauchman flailed at it for Skenes’ 11th strikeout and the final out of the sixth inning, a Pirates record for strikeouts at Wrigley Field.
In six innings, the Cubs got one ball into the air and out of the infield, Christopher Morel’s flyout to left to lead off the fifth.
Reliever Carmen Mlodzinski eventually gave up the Cubs’ first hit in the seventh. But with Skenes on the hill, the Cubs simply flailed and failed, with a series of easy grounders for his infielders to gobble wedged between the strikeouts.
And perhaps most daunting for the rest of the league is the growth Skenes showed between career start Nos. 1 and 2.
Facing the Cubs for the second time in six days, Skenes outdid his debut, during which he struck out seven in four innings and gave up three earned runs, two of them inherited runners relievers allowed to score.
Oh, he didn’t light up the radar gun quite so bright - hitting at least 100 mph 12 times in six innings compared to 17 in four innings last Saturday - but was much more effective.
Skenes switched up his pitch usage, relying almost equally on his blazing four-seam fastball (41% of pitches compared to 39%) but favoring his split-finger more this time (33%) than his debut (25%), at the expense of his slider.
"He showed today," Pirates closer David Bednar told reporters, "he has so many different ways to get guys out."
Getting their second look at the rookie, the Cubs looked more helpless.
Skenes struck out the first seven Cubs he faced, all but one on either the fastball or splitter, falling two shy of Pablo Lopez’s major league record for most punchouts to start a game. He did not allow a baserunner until Michael Busch drew a one-out walk on a full count in the fifth; Skenes then retired the last five men he faced.
"I had a better idea where my fastball was going," Skenes told reporters of the difference between his first and second starts. "It’s not easy to pitch, ever, regardless of circumstances, but it’s always easier to pitch when you have fastball command."
It was a little reminiscent of another May afternoon at Wrigley Field, the 1998 day when Kerry Wood struck out a record-tying 20 Houston Astros while allowing one hit. Wood was allowed to finish that gem.
Skenes left this one after 100 pitches, and while it was unlikely he’d find nine more outs in that arm, he did throw between 116 and 124 pitches in four of his final six starts at LSU.
But Skenes pitched just once every seven days in college; the Pirates want him to go once every fifth day, like a regular major leaguer, and have dutifully built up his workload from the minors to his two major league starts this year.
This time, he could prepare without the significant hometown hype that preceded his debut. This time, he simply had a partisan Cubs crowd of 35,372 in one of baseball's most storied settings to take in.
"It was extremely impressive," Shelton said of the outing. "This is a tough club to strike out. This is a good offense. He went right at them with really good stuff.
"It’s nice to just get him in the flow of being a regular major league pitcher. This was a challenging environment."
And in the end, an afternoon Skenes will not forget - even if there's much more to come.
"I think that’s something I’ll appreciate even more in the next couple days," Skenes told reporters. "Just really cool, all around. Wrigley’s awesome. Friday day game; I’d heard all about the day games at Wrigley and the vibe there."
veryGood! (8156)
Related
- US Diplomats Notch a Win on Climate Super Pollutants With Help From the Private Sector
- Capitals' Tom Wilson faces sixth NHL suspension after forcefully high-sticking opponent
- Powerball numbers 3/20/24: Consider these trending numbers for the $750M Powerball drawing?
- Ohio police share video showing a car hit a child crossing street in Medina: Watch
- Patrick Mahomes Breaks Silence on Frustrating Robbery Amid Ongoing Investigation
- Applications for U.S. unemployment benefits dip to 210,000, another sign the job market is strong
- Real Housewives of Potomac's Karen Huger Charged With DUI After Car Crash
- Lawmakers unveil $1.2 trillion funding package, kicking off sprint to avoid government shutdown
- NBPA reaches Kyle Singler’s family after cryptic Instagram video draws concern
- Powerball jackpot nearing $700 million: What to know about the next lottery drawing
Ranking
- Colorado police shot, kill mountain lion after animal roamed on school's campus
- Tyler Kolek is set to return from oblique injury for No. 2 seed Marquette in NCAA Tournament
- A Nashville guide for Beyoncé fans and new visitors: Six gems in Music City
- New bipartisan bill would require online identification, labeling of AI-generated videos and audio
- Certifying this year’s presidential results begins quietly, in contrast to the 2020 election
- I promised my kid I'd take her to see Bruce Springsteen. Why it took 12 years to get there
- A Nashville guide for Beyoncé fans and new visitors: Six gems in Music City
- Aaron Taylor-Johnson says fascination with wife's 23-year age gap is 'bizarre'
Recommendation
-
2024 'virtually certain' to be warmest year on record, scientists say
-
Apple has kept an illegal monopoly over smartphones in US, Justice Department says in antitrust suit
-
A Nashville guide for Beyoncé fans and new visitors: Six gems in Music City
-
Florida city commissioner accused of spending 96-year-old's money on facelift, hotels
-
Ex-Marine misused a combat technique in fatal chokehold of NYC subway rider, trainer testifies
-
Pennsylvania house fire kills man, 4 children as 3 other family members are rescued
-
Lenny Kravitz Shares Insight Into Bond With Daughter Zoë Kravitz's Fiancé Channing Tatum
-
Wall Street debut of Trump’s Truth Social network could net him stock worth billions on paper