The Angels found out the hard way that one mistake can be enough when Paul Skenes is on the other side.
Los Angeles dropped a 1-0 decision to the Pirates on Sunday, taking its second one-run loss in the three-game set and getting blanked by Skenes and a string of Pittsburgh relievers. The only run of the afternoon came in the second inning, when Henry Davis launched a solo homer off Walbert Urena.
Urena deserved a much better outcome. He worked eight innings, allowed one run on three hits, walked one and struck out four, and finished with a 2.74 ERA. He did it on just 88 pitches, giving the Angels their first complete game from a starter since Shohei Ohtani did it in 2023.
Skenes, who grew up in Fullerton, Calif. as a die-hard Angels fan and met Garrett Anderson when he was young before later meeting Mike Trout, turned in his own sharp outing. His velocity wasn’t quite at its usual level, though he still reached 98 mph at times. Even so, it was more than enough against an Angels lineup that has been struggling lately.
The Angels finished with five hits. Trout had two of them, while Zach Neto, Wade Meckler and Christian Moore each added a single.
Skenes exited after 5-1/3 innings and 87 pitches, and Pittsburgh’s bullpen handled the rest. Gregory Soto, Carmen Mlodzinski and Camilo Doval combined to allow just a walk and a hit. Mason Montgomery closed it out with a scoreless ninth for his 10th save.
The result added another grim note to a difficult season for the Angels. They lost the series despite allowing only two runs across their two defeats, while Pittsburgh scored just three runs in the entire set.
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