Rare support – Paul Skenes finally had his run support after a month of struggles, but the Pirates ace couldn’t convert it into a win. Loaded scoring early never fully stuck, and an Astros comeback erased Skenes’ improved showing before he headed for a quick wait—another sta
Houston felt different for Paul Skenes from the moment the Pirates jumped in front—until it didn’t.
On a night when Pittsburgh scored early and kept finding ways to add runs. Skenes still struggled to stay free long enough to finish. In the Astros’ 11-9 comeback win on Wednesday night at Daikin Park. the right-hander was already chasing outs when his pitch count climbed. He ultimately took a no-decision after Pittsburgh dropped a lead and Houston stormed through the bottom of the eighth.
Skenes yielded three runs on seven hits with one walk and seven strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings. He threw 109 pitches, and Pittsburgh manager Don Kelly pointed to the way the game forced those extra numbers on the scoreboard—especially when the defense didn’t erase the extended moments.
“I thought he threw the ball fairly well,” Kelly said. “I do think that maybe defensively, there were some plays that we needed to make that cost him some pitches and got the pitch count up. It got him to 109 [pitches]. He still had good stuff there at the end.”
The outing began with control. Skenes worked two scoreless innings before the third inning turned into a problem. He threw 32 pitches in that frame, and it ended with RBI singles from Yordan Alvarez and Isaac Paredes.
After an efficient fourth inning, Skenes’ fifth looked like it might stabilize him—but it didn’t hold. He threw 34 pitches in the fifth, and his last batter faced came after a quick hit that tightened the score. Cam Smith delivered an RBI single to cut the Pirates’ lead to 4-3.
The Pirates did strike again—just not in a way that locked the game for good. Smith later plated a pair on a go-ahead triple to cap a six-run eighth for the Astros, who came from behind to steal the win.
Skenes described the exact problem he was trying to correct, down to the sequence at the plate.
“I just got to get ahead,” Skenes said. “That last at-bat, obviously, Donnie comes out, and then I go 2-0. That can’t happen. I just got to get ahead.”
Pitching numbers show how he kept trying to create swings and misses. Skenes threw 48 four-seam fastballs, 21 sweepers, 14 changeups, 13 sinkers and 12 sliders out of his career-high 109 pitches. His most success came with his secondary pitches. He generated four whiffs on eight swings with the slider and two whiffs on five swings with the changeup. compared to four whiffs on 24 swings with the four-seamer.
In total, he recorded 12 whiffs out of 50 swings and three strikeouts on the slider, two strikeouts on the changeup and one strikeout on both the four-seamer and sinker.
Skenes also put the blame for the elevated pitch count where it belonged: execution.
“Throwing too many balls; them fouling pitches off,” Skenes said were the reasons for his elevated pitch count.
The cruel part of the night was the timing of the support. For the Pirates over the last month, run support had been a problem for their ace. In May, they scored eight runs over his five starts.
On Wednesday, that changed. In the fourth inning. Pittsburgh’s batterymate Henry Davis launched his first career grand slam onto the train tracks beyond the Crawford Boxes in left field to give the Pirates a 4-2 lead. Nick Gonzales added a two-run homer as part of a three-run seventh. then added an RBI double in the eighth as Pittsburgh built a 9-5 lead.
But a lead isn’t the same as a finish. Houston came roaring back with six runs in the bottom of the inning, turning what looked like a cushion into a setback.
“It was a big moment in that game being down 2-0,” Kelly said of Davis’ grand slam. “For him to hit the grannie, I thought we had great at-bats throughout the lineup, continued to add on runs and we need to continue to do that as we go through the season.”
Even with the late swing of momentum, the Pirates’ surge had been real before Wednesday. Pittsburgh has homered in 10 straight games, matching its longest streak since June 21-30, 2022. The Pirates also carried five straight multihomer games, matching the longest such streak since Aug. 22-26, 2014. Wednesday marked another milestone: the first time Pittsburgh has scored nine-plus runs in four straight games since Aug. 16-18, 1928.
Skenes, after the loss, sounded disappointed in the way only a pitcher can when the offense performs yet the outcome still slips away.
“We can’t lose this one today,” Skenes said. “It stings a little bit. Putting up nine runs, you should win that game every time. It doesn’t feel good for me. I know it doesn’t feel good for the other pitchers who threw today. There are times when we will pick up the offense, and there are times where we won’t. Tonight was one of those nights. It’s a little unfortunate, but it’s why they give us 162 [games].”.
None of this softened the fact that Skenes has been stuck through recent starts. The 2024 National League Rookie of the Year and 2025 NL Cy Young Award winner has allowed at least three runs in each of his last four starts. Against the Cubs on Thursday. his last time out. he exited after 5 1/3 innings and took the loss—despite striking out 10 and allowing only one of the three runs he gave up to be earned.
After the Astros game, Skenes urged a reset away from the box score and back toward the work.
“I think it’s really easy to look at the box score. and last outing three walks. a couple runs. ” Skenes said. “It’s really easy to look at the box score and kind of think like. ‘Maybe I’m not throwing the ball super well.’ I think you have to take a step back and look at how you’re executing pitches. Obviously, see what there is to do better. The same thing after every outing. Look at the pitches that you’re executing. Look at it objectively.”.
Paul Skenes Pittsburgh Pirates Houston Astros Daikin Park Henry Davis grand slam Nick Gonzales home run Cam Smith RBI triple pitch count MLB