Paul Skenes piled up strikeouts Saturday night, but the Cubs found the opening they needed in the fifth and turned a dominant outing into a frustrating finish for the Pirates.
Skenes struck out a season-high 11 and was sharp for most of the night, yet he was charged with five earned runs after Pittsburgh’s bullpen couldn’t stop the damage. He left after 5 1/3 innings with the Pirates down 3-0, and Isaac Mattson entered in the sixth with two runners aboard before allowing a double and a single.
The right-hander came in riding a strong stretch, carrying a 2.45 ERA and three wins over his previous three starts. His most recent outing, against the Guardians, had been his best of the summer: seven innings, one run allowed.
Against Chicago, though, the first real threat came quickly. Pete Crow-Armstrong opened the game with a single, then stole second even after Skenes stepped off and threw over. Skenes still kept him there, striking out two hitters and getting a flyout to escape the inning.
He kept missing bats in the second, adding two more strikeouts while working six different pitch types against seven batters. Skenes entered the night with a 2.77 ERA in eight career starts against the Cubs, along with 12.2 strikeouts per nine innings.
The third inning was messier. Dansby Swanson drew a four-pitch walk, Skenes made a two-base error on a pickoff attempt, and Miguel Amaya was hit by a pitch. Even with the pressure mounting, Skenes settled back in, striking out two looking and then inducing a flyout to get out of trouble.
He was back to overpowering form in the fourth, striking out three more hitters with a mix of slider, four-seam fastball and sweeper. His fastball dipped as low as 93.9 mph, but he still looked every bit the ace.
Then the fifth changed everything. The Cubs’ lower half of the order started the inning with two singles, Crow-Armstrong followed with a double to put Chicago ahead 1-0, and Seiya Suzuki added a soft single to right to bring in two more. That was enough to spoil what had been a brilliant night for Skenes.
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