Pittsburgh Pirates fans may exhale after seeing Paul Skenes look more like his usual self on Tuesday night. The reigning National League Cy Young Award winner has endured the worst stretch of his dominant career, allowing a 5.67 ERA over an ugly nine-start stretch. He tallied 22 strikeouts to 13 walks in his last four outings before Tuesday's game against the San Diego Padres.
Skenes was much sharper at Petco Park, holding the Padres scoreless across six innings. The 24-year-old relinquished three hits and no walks in a 1-0 Pirates win. Skenes also halted a concerning trend by throwing his four-seam fastball at 97.2 mph, his highest in-game average velocity since May 28.
He reached 98.6 mph on a sinker after firing the pitch at an average speed of 95.5 mph on Aug. 11. After the game, Skenes jokingly credited the velocity spike to a hot radar gun. "It felt good," Skenes told reporters, via Sports Net Pittsburgh.
"I think (my) body (is) probably getting into a better spot. It's been a little hit-and-miss, I think, this year. Today was a good day with that." Pirates manager Don Kelly also liked what he saw from Skenes, who needed only 87 pitches to complete six frames for the first time since July 19.
It was also his first start without issuing a walk since May 12. "Velo seemed to tick up a little bit. Command was much, much better," Kelly said.
"Throwing all pitches for strikes. To get through six innings, they have a good lineup ... I thought it was the best outing that he's had in a while." Skenes lowered his season ERA to 3.79, still a bloated number after finishing his first two seasons under 2.00.
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