Fastball

Pittsburgh Pirates' Paul Skenes Does Something Never Done Before in Loss on Tuesday

Pittsburgh Pirates rookie right-hander Paul Skenes made some baseball history on Tuesday as he dominated the St. Louis Cardinals but still picked up a loss.

Brady Farkas

Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes (30) pitches against the St. Louis Cardinals during the eighth inning at PNC Park on July 23.
Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes (30) pitches against the St. Louis Cardinals during the eighth inning at PNC Park on July 23. / Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
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The Pittsburgh Pirates lost to the St. Louis Cardinals 2-1 on Tuesday night at PNC Park as rookie right-hander Paul Skenes picked up the first loss of his career.

But just because Skenes lost doesn't mean that he wasn't still dominant. He was. The former No. 1 pick in the draft and first time All-Star went 8.1 innings, pitching into the ninth inning for the first time in his career. He allowed two earned runs on four hits, walking none and striking out eight. He's now 6-1 on the year and owns a 1.93 ERA.

It was a tough loss for the Pirates, who are now 51-50 on the year. They are 1.5 games back in the National League wild card loss.

As for Skenes, he's been one of the biggest stories in all of baseball this season. Taking the league by storm, he started the All-Star Game for the National League and has the inside track at the National League Rookie of the Year Award as well.

He's also helped reinvigorate the Pirates fans who haven't seen a playoff berth in almost a decade. He and Jared Jones look like the foundation of a pitching staff that could be excellent for the next half-decade or more.

Furthermore, his outing made Modern Era baseball history, according to @OptaSTATS:

Tonight Paul Skenes:

- got 25+ outs
- allowed fewer than 5 hits
- walked nobody
- struck out 8+

No other MLB rookie in the modern era has done all of that and yet suffered the loss.

The Pirates and Cardinals will play each other again on Wednesday afternoon with the first pitch coming at 12:35 p.m. ET. As of this posting, the Cardinals haven't named a starter but the Pirates will go with veteran lefty Martin Perez. He's 1-5 with a 5.61 ERA.

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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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