Paul Skenes experienced an MLB first on Tuesday.
He took a loss.
It’s hard to place the blame for Tuesday’s outcome on the Pittsburgh Pirates’ rookie sensation. But he was credited with the decision in the St. Louis Cardinals’ 2-1 win over the Pirates at PNC Park.
The loss was the first for Skenes in 12 MLB starts. He now stands at 6-1 in those 12 starts with a 1.93 ERA, 0.87 WHIP, 97 strikeouts and 13 walks in 74 2/3 innings pitched.
Monday’s game didn’t do much damage to his season-long stat line beyond the loss column.
Skenes started his day with a 1-2-3 inning that concluded with a swinging strikeout of Willson Contreras.
He didn’t allow his first baserunner until Nolan Gorman legged out an infield single in the third. Gorman didn’t get past first base. Skenes retired the side in the fourth before making a mistake against Nolan Arenado in the fifth.
Skenes left an 83 mph curve ball over the middle of the plate, and Arenado launched it into the left-field bleachers for a solo home run to give St. Louis a 1-0 lead.
Skenes proceeded to retire the next 12 Cardinals batters and returned to the mound in the ninth inning with the game tied at 1-1.
There, he allowed a leadoff double to Michael Siani on a 1-2 count after just missing on a potential foul-tip strikeout.
This would have been Paul Skenes’s 9th K…
But, wound up turning into a double on the next pitch (which ended up being the game winning run). pic.twitter.com/a83zaexh7s
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) July 24, 2024
Siani advanced to third on a groundout, and Alec Burleson plated him with a single on the next at-bat to give the Cardinals a 2-1 lead.
That was the end of Skenes’ day. Carmen Mlodzinski replaced him and got out of the inning without further damage. But the Pirates couldn’t counter with their bats in the bottom of the ninth, and St. Louis held on for the win.
Skenes finished with two earned runs allowed on four hits and one home run with no walks and eight strikeouts in 8 1/3 innings pitched.
Lance Lynn countered with five shoutout innings for St. Louis before ceding the mound to the Cardinals bullpen. Five St. Louis relievers combined to allow a single run, ensuring that Skenes would leave Tuesday’s game with the first loss of his MLB career.
