Skenes Rocks Reds

S.Samek

Skenes day at PNC Park on Thursday night. Cincinnati came to town looking to bury the Pirates further in the cellar of the National League Central division. Could Skenes help them gain a game back and start the series off strong?

Skenes pitched six scoreless innings, giving up two hits, walking one batter and striking out nine. He threw just 87 pitches with 53 pitches going for strikes. He lowered his era to 2.16 During the first inning he gave up a walk to Elly De La Cruz and then picked him off. De La Cruz would groundout in his at bat in the fourth against Skenes in a battle of two star young players.

The Pirates gave Skenes plenty of run support as he left up 7-0. A six-run fifth inning put the Pirates ahead 6-0. An RBI single by Bryan Reynolds started it, then a Joey Bart hit by pitch forced in another run making it 2-0. That was the end of the night for Reds starter Nick Lodolo.

Bryan De La Cruz then cleared the bases with a three-run double to take it to 5-0. He then scored on an RBI single from Oneil Cruz. Yasmani Grandal added a solo home run in the sixth inning to put the Pirates up the touchdown.

A touchdown was more than enough as the duo of Ben Heller and Hunter Stratton shut down the Reds over the final three innings to preserve the 7-0 shutout.

This earned Skenes the win as he improves to 8-2 on the season. Lodolo took the loss. The Pirates improved to 60-67 while the Reds fall to 62-66. The Reds hold just a game and half lead over the Pirates for basement of the Nation League Central division.

Game two of the four-game series is Friday August 23rd, 2023. Bailey Falter starts for Pittsburgh opposing Andrew Abbott for the Reds. First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 PM.