Paul Skenes, the reigning National League Cy Young winner, delivered another dominant performance on Tuesday night, allowing just two hits over eight innings to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 3-1 victory over the Colorado Rockies.
The 23-year-old right-hander carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning, retiring 18 of the first 19 batters he faced. Colorado’s Mickey Moniak broke up the no-hit bid with a one-out single to left-center field. Skenes responded by retiring Hunter Goodman and TJ Rumfield to escape the inning.
Skenes returned for the eighth, surrendering a one-out double to Troy Johnston before inducing a flyout and a ground ball. He received a standing ovation as he walked off the mound after striking out Ezequiel Tovar to end the inning. Skenes tipped his cap to the crowd before heading to the dugout, finishing with a season-high 10 strikeouts and lowering his ERA to 1.98.
Six days after allowing two hits over eight shutout innings in a win over Arizona, Skenes was even sharper against the Rockies. He struck out the first six batters he faced, marking the second time in his three-year career that he has fanned six straight to open a game.
Colorado’s Willi Castro ended that streak with a bunt on the first pitch of the third inning. The ball rolled back to Skenes, who fielded it cleanly and threw to first, drawing boos from the PNC Park crowd.
Skenes kept rolling, with his only blemish in the fifth coming when he hit Johnston on the left foot with a 2-1 pitch with two outs. Johnston was promptly thrown out attempting to steal second to end the inning.
Though Skenes threw 68 of his 98 pitches for strikes, he did not return for the ninth in pursuit of his first career shutout. Chants of “We Want Paul!” briefly erupted as reliever Gregory Soto entered. Soto allowed a two-out RBI double to Goodman but held on for his fourth save.
Oneil Cruz recorded three hits for Pittsburgh, while Nick Gonzales added two hits, including an RBI single off Michael Lorenzen (2-5) in the first inning that gave Skenes all the run support he needed.
