Pirates Crowd Had Electric Reaction When Paul Skenes Came Out for Ninth Inning

This was a cool moment.

Paul Skenes picked up his first loss of his rookie season Tuesday night, but the home crowd loved it when he came out to pitch in the ninth inning. /

Pittsburgh Pirates rookie starting pitcher Paul Skenes was saddled with the loss—the first of his career—in Tuesday's 2-1 defeat to the St. Louis Cardinals at PNC Park, but the ace still managed to accomplish something he had previously never done in his MLB career: Pitch into the ninth inning.

Pirates fans, who have loved Skenes from the moment he first toed the rubber in Pittsburgh, realized exactly what the rookie had achieved, showering him with a huge ovation as he jogged out of the dugout following the bottom of the eighth inning.

Check out the electric moment:

Paul Skenes takes the mound for the 9th inning and Pittsburgh is HYPED! pic.twitter.com/A0w6tFQG1p

— MLB (@MLB) July 24, 2024

Fans even started up an "MVP" chant for Skenes.

I think they’re happy Paul Skenes is staying in the game.

Fans are now chanting “MVP! MVP!” pic.twitter.com/F7lhNxHb3f

— Jason Mackey (@JMackeyPG) July 24, 2024

It's no small wonder why, as Skenes's performance was indeed MVP-caliber.

According to Opta Stats, Skenes is the first pitcher in the modern era (since 1901) to record 25 plus-outs, fewer than five hits, walk zero batters and notch eight strikeouts in a loss.

After the game, Skenes acknowledged how special the ovation he received from the crowd was.

"It was awesome, especially on a Tuesday night,” Skenes said. “Kind of just shows where we're at as a team, where the city's at. Just really, really cool. Obviously wish I could have finished it. It was a cool moment."