Not only was it one other good night for Pirates super rookie Paul Skenes, but he was so strong on Tuesday night that the fans at an opposing ballpark even had to understand what he was doing.
The LSU product threw 6 1/3 scoreless innings, striking out eight while allowing just five hits with no walks as his Pittsburgh squad held on for a 2-1 win over the rival Cardinals.
But what may need been the signature moment of the sport got here in the underside of the seventh inning when Derek Shelton pulled Skenes at 103 pitches following a Nolan Arenado double.
Because the flamethrower walked off the mound to the third-base dugout, he was given a standing ovation by Cardinals supporters at Busch Stadium, something the Sportsnet Pittsburgh crew quickly noticed, as analyst Neil Walker called the fashionable gesture “incredible.”
Skenes, the No. 1 pick in last 12 months’s draft, has been pretty much as good as advertised, holding a 2.43 ERA with 46 strikeouts through his first six big league starts since being called up from Triple-A Indianapolis.
He registered 11 pitches at 99.5 mph or higher on Tuesday, registering 14 swing and misses in what may need been his best overall outing as a giant leaguer.
In response to Baseball Savant, he sits within the 99th percentile in fastball velocity.
This got here as he dueled opposite Cardinals righty Miles Mikolas, who himself carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning.
“I needed to execute very well. I had get batters out with different stuff every time through the order,” Skenes said afterward, in line with the Associated Press.
Shelton also said the Pirates have only seen higher and higher things from the right-hander thus far early in his major league profession.
“He was extremely efficient,” Shelton told reporters. “Overall, he was very impressive. We proceed to see growth out of Paul.”
With the stuff he’s brought out of the gate, Skenes may be getting more fans to face and applaud and more batters to take a seat back down on the bench.
