Pirates send surging Paul Skenes to face Cardinals

Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes has shown no signs of fatigue while transitioning from college to the pro game.

Skenes (10-2, 2.10 ERA) is 2-0 with a 0.82 ERA in two September starts. He will try to continue the strong finish to his rookie season Monday when the Pirates (71-78) visit the St. Louis Cardinals (74-75) in the opener of a four-game series at Busch Stadium.

“I’m not tired, really,” Skenes said after earning a 3-2 victory over the Miami Marlins in his last start Sept. 9. “Not feeling anything abnormal. It’s just a matter of finishing in the sprint to the end here.”

The Pirates handled baseball’s top young pitcher with care this season. Skenes pitched 27 1/3 innings in seven minor league starts before making his big league debut on May 11.

Skenes has pitched 120 innings in 20 starts for the Pirates. He has 151 strikeouts — and MLB.com noted that Kerry Wood (179 in 1998), Hideo Nomo (175 in 1995), Dwight Gooden (162 in 1984) and Mark Prior (154 in 2002-03) are the only pitchers since 1901 with more strikeouts in their first 20 big league games.

“I can’t think of anybody I’ve seen that’s been that strikeout-heavy, especially early in their career,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “I’ve watched guys that have done it that have been elite pitchers throughout their careers, but I don’t know that I remember anybody being a rookie that has been like that.”

Skenes is 0-1 with a 1.23 ERA in two starts against the Cardinals this season. He struck out 16 batters and walked none in 14 2/3 innings.

The only runs St. Louis scored against Skenes came on a solo homer by Nolan Arenado and an RBI single by Alec Burleson.

The Pirates, who have won five of their past seven games, are catching the Cardinals in the midst of an offense downturn. St. Louis scored just seven runs while suffering a three-game sweep from the Blue Jays at Toronto over the weekend.

The Cardinals were just 2-for-27 hitting with runners in scoring position in that series.

“Offensively, we just haven’t had the ability to execute, plain and simple,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said after the Cardinals lost 3-2 on Sunday. “There’s no talking around it or excusing it. We just don’t score enough runs right now to win games, especially to go on a run.”

St. Louis starting pitcher Andre Pallante (6-8, 4.13) will try to get back on track. He was 2-1 with a 3.30 ERA in five August starts, but he struggled in his first two starts this month.

Pallante is 0-2 with 7.20 ERA in September with eight runs allowed on 11 hits and 10 walks in 10 innings.

“I definitely felt like I wasted a lot of pitches, just non-competitive pitchers early on counts,” he said after suffering a 3-0 loss to the Cincinnati Reds in his last start Tuesday. “I made a lot of really good pitches, I always wasted too many. Definitely something I can improve on.”

Pallante is 0-0 with a 1.38 ERA in two starts against Pittsburgh this season. He allowed two runs on seven hits in 13 innings while walking three and striking out eight.

In his career, he is 0-1 with a 3.33 ERA in 15 appearances, including 13 in relief.

–Field Level Media