Fastball

Pittsburgh Pirates All-Star Closing Out Historic Rookie Season with a Bang

The Pittsburgh Pirates shut out the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday thanks to another solid effort from Paul Skenes.

Brady Farkas

Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes (30) pitches against the Cincinnati Reds in the first inning at Great American Ball Park on Sept 22.
Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes (30) pitches against the Cincinnati Reds in the first inning at Great American Ball Park on Sept 22. / Katie Stratman-Imagn Images

The Pittsburgh Pirates shut out the Cincinnati Reds 2-0 on Sunday afternoon in Cincinnati. With the win, the Pirates are now 73-83 while the Reds are now 76-81.

In a battle of excellent young pitchers, Pirates ace Paul Skenes outdueled flamethrower Hunter Greene. Skenes earned the win after going 5.0 innings. He allowed just two hits and no walks while striking out nine. He only threw 73 pitches, as the Pirates are likely trying to conserve him in his first full professional season.

Since debuting in early May, Skenes is 11-3 with a sterling 1.99 ERA. He started the All-Star Game for the National League just one year after getting drafted. According to Sarah Langs of MLB.com, Skenes is also making ridiculous baseball history.

Paul Skenes: 1.99 ERA, 0.96 WHIP

only other pitchers with ERA AND WHIP that low in first 22 career starts, since ER official in AL + NL (1913), min 100 IP:

1963 Gary Peters
1913-17 Ferdie Schupp
1913-14 Doc Ayers

Though the Pirates are going to finish below .500 and miss the playoffs, the idea of having Skenes at the top of the rotation for years is certainly an exciting one. He'll pair with Jared Jones to make a very formidable 1-2 moving forward.

With six games left in the season, the Pirates are off on Monday. They'll be back in action on Tuesday night against the Milwaukee Brewers, who have already won the National League Central.

First pitch is set for 6:40 p.m. ET as Bailey Falter pitches against Brewers righty Tobias Myers.

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Brady Farkas

BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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