HOUSTON -- Paul Skenes will have to wait another start to snap his three-game losing streak. The Pirates ace struggled to get out of the fifth inning of Pittsburgh’s 11-9 loss to the Astros on Wednesday night at Daikin Park, and the pitch count eventually got him.
The right-hander yielded three runs on seven hits with one walk and seven strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings while taking a no-decision.
“I thought he threw the ball fairly well,” Pittsburgh manager Don 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.”
Skenes threw two scoreless innings before running into trouble in the third. He threw 32 pitches in the inning, which was highlighted by RBI singles from Yordan Alvarez and Isaac Paredes.
After an efficient fourth inning, Skenes threw 34 pitches in the fifth, with his last being an RBI single by Cam Smith to cut the Pirates’ lead to 4-3. 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 a win.
“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.”
Skenes threw 48 four-seam fastballs, 21 sweepers, 14 changeups, 13 sinkers and 12 sliders out of his career-high 109 pitches, having his most success with the secondary pitches. The Pirates’ ace got 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, Skenes got 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.
“Throwing too many balls; them fouling pitches off,” Skenes said were the reasons for his elevated pitch count.
Run support for Skenes had been an issue for the Pirates over the last month, as they scored eight runs over their ace’s five May starts.
That changed in the fourth inning as Skenes’ 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 and added an RBI double in the eighth as Pittsburgh built a 9-5 lead before the Astros rallied for six runs in the bottom of the inning.
“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.”
Pittsburgh has homered in 10 straight games, matching its longest streak since June 21-30, 2022. The Pirates have five straight multihomer games, matching the longest such streak since Aug. 22-26, 2014.
Additionally, Wednesday marked the first time the Pirates have scored nine-plus runs in four straight games since Aug. 16-18, 1928.
“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].”
The 2024 National League Rookie of the Year and 2025 NL Cy Young Award winner has struggled a bit in recent weeks, allowing 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, even though he struck out 10 and only one of the three runs he gave up was earned.
“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.”