Skenes dazzles with fastball command, eyes strong 2nd half

MINNEAPOLIS -- From the first pitch of the night, Pirates manager Don Kelly knew that his ace was in good form on Friday.

In a head-to-head matchup of All-Stars, Paul Skenes started Minnesota’s Byron Buxton with a 94.9 mph splinker. It darted and dove and froze Buxton, who checked his swing as an inside strike buzzed past him.

Buxton and the Twins would get their revenge, but Skenes turned in another outstanding start in Pittsburgh’s 2-1 loss. It was the Pirates’ seventh straight loss, all coming on this nine-game road trip leading into the All-Star Game.

The Pirates didn’t go down quietly, however. Spencer Horwitz singled off Twins closer Jhoan Duran with one out in the ninth. Pinch-runner Jack Suwinski stole second base, but Duran rallied to strike out pinch-hitter Adam Frazier and Isiah Kiner-Falefa to end the game.

“Losing streaks are terrible,” Kelly said. “When you go through it, the players feel it ... the fans feel it, everybody feels it. It stinks, and I think the thing that I'm proud of with these guys that continue to battle. Even in the ninth inning against a really tough closer … we're finishing games. We're right there. One run. We just need to find a way to get over the hump.”

Skenes fell to 4-8 despite turning in another strong five-inning stint. His last win came on May 28 at Arizona. Not that he’s been in any type of a slump. In eight starts since, Skenes is 0-3 with a 1.77 ERA and a 0.94 WHIP.

After raving about that first-pitch splinker (“filthy” and “unbelievable” were the relevant adjectives), Kelly noted that Skenes’ fastball was especially sharp on Friday, and his ace agreed.

“I think just watching my progression through the season … my fastball command wasn't outstanding -- effectively wild, almost -- but the last few starts, I've been really happy with it,” Skenes said. “Just being able to pick lanes and get the ball where I want it to go -- it makes pitching a lot easier when you have a fastball command.”

The night got off to a great start for Skenes. While his fellow All-Star Joe Ryan needed 33 pitches to get out through the top of the first inning, Skenes needed just 12 pitches to strike out the side in the bottom half of the frame.

He was even more efficient in the second, throwing 10 pitches to retire the side on two groundouts and a flyout. Ten more pitches produced three flyouts in the third inning.

The Pirates scored in the fourth on Kiner-Falefa’s two-out RBI double. But the Twins finally showed signs of life against Skenes in the bottom of the inning.

Buxton led off with a chopper down the third-base line. Ke’Bryan Hayes made a nice play charging the ball, but his throw was low and the speedy Buxton beat it out for the Twins’ first hit.

One out later, Skenes ran the count full against Trevor Larnach, then left an 84-mph curveball over the middle of the plate, and Larnach jumped all over it. The ball reached the flower beds atop Target Field’s 27-foot wall in right-center for Larnach’s 13th homer of the season and a 2-1 Twins lead.

“One pitch,” Skenes said. “[Larnach] did a good job, but it was a 3-2 pitch. Gotta throw a strike.”

Larnach’s blast was just the sixth home run allowed by Skenes this year and the first since June 3, a span of 37 innings.

Skenes got out of the inning by striking out Carlos Correa and Matt Wallner. That gave him 300 career strikeouts and made him the first Pirate and only the 17th pitcher in MLB history with 300 strikeouts in his first 43 career starts, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Kody Clemens and Buxton each singled in the fifth but Skenes struck out Willi Castro to end the inning, and – as it would turn out -- his night. With an appearance and possible start in the All-Star Game looming for his ace on Tuesday, Kelly pulled Skenes after just 78 pitches.

Then again, it was the third time in his last four outings that he was pulled at 78 pitches, and he’s averaged just five innings pitched in his last six starts. That’s all part of the plan to keep Skenes healthy and locked in for the entire season.

“I don't know what I was on pace to throw, but it was over what we were shooting for at the beginning of the year,” Skenes said. “That's why we’re doing these shorter starts -- hopefully to set me up well to come out strong in the second half and continue to take on volume.”