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Paul Skenes Strikes Out Shohei Ohtani With Three Straight 100 mph Fastballs

Tom Dierberger

Lon Horwedel-USA TODAY Sports
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Opposing pitchers don't get the best of Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani too often. But Pittsburgh Pirates rookie phenom Paul Skenes did just that on three pitches Wednesday night.

Skenes didn't mess around, either. He piped three straight fastballs inside the strike zone at 101.3 mph, 100.1 mph and 100.8 mph. Ohtani swung at all three pitches, fouling off one of them, but quickly headed back into the dugout after striking out.

Ohtani got his revenge in the top of the third inning, however. On a 3–2 pitch, Ohtani smacked a 100.1-mph fastball from Skenes 415 feet into the Dodgers' bullpen in center field for a two-run homer.

The two-way superstar swung and missed at the first five Skenes fastballs he saw before launching his 15th home run of the season on the sixth.

Skenes is making his fifth career start Wednesday night at PNC Park. Over his first four outings, Skenes logged a 2–0 record, 2.45 ERA and 12.3 strikeouts per nine innings.

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Tom Dierberger

TOM DIERBERGER

Tom Dierberger is a staff writer and editor on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI in November 2023 after stints at FOX Sports, Bally Sports and NBC Sports. Dierberger has a bachelor's in communication from St. John's University. In his spare time, he can be seen throwing out his arm while playing fetch with his dog, Walter B. Boy.

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