The Pirates fell by a final score of 5-3 to the Cardinals Tuesday evening at PNC Park. Sonny Gray was the game’s winning pitcher, improving to 2-0, while Paul Skenes suffered his first loss of the year, dropping to 1-1. Phil Maton entered with two outs remaining in the bottom of the ninth to record the save, his first of the season.
Victor Scott II and Brendan Donovan led the way for St. Louis, tallying a pair of hits respectively and combining to drive in three of the club’s five runs. The Cardinals collectively out-hit the Pirates seven to six in their win. A complete recap of the game can be read here. Below are the Post-Gazette’s three takeaways from the contest.
Skenes looked human
For the first time in his big-league career, Paul Skenes surrendered more than four runs in a game. The Cardinals tagged Skenes for a career-high five runs allowed, all of them earned on six hits and a walk.
St. Louis’ big inning came in the top of the third, when it rallied to score three times off the Pirates’ ace. Matched up against a familiar opponent, Skenes made a handful of mistakes, leaving the ball over the plate, and the Cardinals capitalized.
"I think I just missed across the plate a couple times, basically let them get their A swings off a couple too many times,” Skenes said. “ … It's funny, a lot of the times you get away with those. Just didn't get away with them today. Kind of is what it is. You tip your cap to them."
Skenes’ pitch count more than doubled between the second and third inning, jumping from 24 to 50. After an efficient eight-pitch frame in the fourth, the Cardinals battled for his final two innings on the mound, tagging him for a pair of runs in the top of the sixth, his final frame.
"I don't think it was a temperature thing,” manager Derek Shelton said. “Obviously it wasn't ideal conditions to pitch or hit, but his velocity was up the first few innings. Just missed with balls in the middle of the plate."
Unlike what we’ve seen at times from other opponents, the Cardinals didn’t have many cheap base hits against Skenes. Four of St. Louis’ six knocks against the right-hander came with an exit velocity north of 100 mph.
Another unique element to Skenes’ outing was his lack of the four-seam fastball, his most used — and normally most effective — pitch. Skenes threw the four-seamer 29 times Tuesday evening, and instead relied more on his entire arsenal, throwing seven different pitches.
"I don't think it was as predominant as we've seen in the past,” Shelton said. “There were a lot of sinkers today instead of the fastball, and I think a couple of those he left up in the middle, and were what got hit."
With the loss, the Pirates are now 1-2 in Skenes’ three starts this season.
"We haven't seen a lot of rough ones [from him],” Shelton said, “But everything that has been on his plate, he's handled very well. I expect him to come out the next time and be what we expect."
Suwinski ice cold
Despite entering the game with just one hit in his last 13 at-bats, Jack Suwinski was selected to be the Pirates’ leadoff hitter Tuesday evening. Suwinski’s woes continued at the plate, going 0-for-2 with a strikeout before he was replaced by Alexander Canario in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Suwinski’s strikeout, a watched 92.5 mph belt-high sinker located over the heart of the plate, came in the Pirates’ first at-bat of the evening. The strikeout marked Suwinski’s 12th this season in 26 total plate appearances, having drawn just one walk in that stretch. While a well-hit ball in the third inning had favorable metrics, registering at a game-high 106.8 mph exit velocity, it managed to find the glove of center fielder Michael Siani for an out.
"I think we just gotta get him to be more aggressive,” Shelton said. “Continue to get him to be more aggressive and get his swing off. Because when he gets his swing off, he hits the ball hard."
Suwinski was far from the only Pirate who looked lost at the plate Tuesday evening. The Pirates tallied just six hits in their loss, three of them coming in the bottom of the ninth. Bryan Reynolds was responsible for two of the club’s six hits, one being a double and the other a solo home run, his second of the season.
"We had some good swings,” Shelton said. “Even the last ball of the game, that Tommy hit, was squared up. He made a nice running catch in right-center field. But no, nothing approach-wise. We just got some balls to fall. Bryan hit a ball, Joey had a good at-bat. We gotta continue to go. The fact that we continue to go, that's encouraging."
Cold, empty & angry
Prior to first pitch, the Pirates announced that fans in attendance with the MLB Ballpark app would receive two free tickets to a future game for showing up in the cold temperatures, which dipped below 30 degrees throughout the game. The paid attendance Tuesday evening was 8,291, an increase of 41 from Monday night’s win. But despite the many empty seats throughout the ballpark, the fan frustration was once again on display.
For the second time this homestand, fans in attendance united in a “sell the team” chant, a continuation of the abhorrence the club’s supporters have expressed toward Pirates ownership. The chants were heard both on the television and radio broadcasts by those watching at home.
“Their frustration is they want to win,” Shelton said earlier in the home stand when asked about the fan anger on display. “I want to win. Our players want to win. We have to keep focusing on that.”
First Published: April 9, 2025, 2:55 a.m.
Updated: April 9, 2025, 3:39 p.m.
