It wasn’t a perfect baseball game, but sometimes, it seems a Paul Skenes start day cures all the Pirates’ ills.
A day after a two-hit shutout loss in Cincinnati, the Pirates jumped all over the Nationals, setting season-highs in hits and runs in a 10-3 win Monday at PNC Park. Skenes pitched six solid innings, third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes had three RBIs and the Pirates scored five runs in the eighth inning alone to win the series opener.
The Pirates bettered Sunday’s offensive performance in just the first inning, matching the day with two hits and three baserunners and, most importantly, scoring a run. Right fielder Andrew McCutchen started it with a two-out single, first baseman Enmanuel Valdez walked and Hayes singled McCutchen home. Hayes was thrown out after taking a wide turn around first base.
Pittsburgh added a second in the third when center fielder Oneil Cruz scorched an opposite field double, then scored on a single from designated hitter Bryan Reynolds.
The Pirates seemed to open the game up with a three-run fifth inning, going up 5-0 and chasing Nationals starter Brad Lord from the game. Reynolds hit a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded to score left fielder Tommy Pham, and with the bases loaded again, Valdez scored two on a single to right. Valdez was thrown out trying to reach second on the throw home.
It slipped a bit in the sixth. Skenes, who had retired 10 batters in a row, allowed a double to No. 9 hitter Nasim Nunez, then right fielder Alex Call reached on a Hayes error. Nunez scored on a James Wood fielder’s choice. Skenes tried to pick off Wood, but a low, yet catchable throw got past Valdez and ended up in the right field corner. Wood scored on a Nathaniel Lowe single to center field, with Lowe reaching second when Cruz failed to field the ball cleanly.
Those three errors, plus another misplayed Skenes pickoff in the first — that also probably should have been caught by Valdez — resulted in a season-high four error day for Pittsburgh. But a good start from Skenes, three solid innings from the Pirate bullpen and five insurance runs in the eighth inning meant the Pirates had more than enough to win anyways.
It was over when…
The Pirates led by just two in the top of the eighth inning, ahead 5-3, when Pittsburgh scored five to put the game away. Reynolds scored the first run, coming home on a Valdez double, then McCutchen and Valdez scored on a scorched Hayes liner to left. Pham and Isiah Kiner-Falefa added RBI singles.
On the mound
Skenes completed six innings, allowing just three hits and two runs, one earned. He struck out six. He attacked with his fastball and avoided the hard contact he faced in his last outing against the Cardinals, and the only two runs he allowed were in the three-error sixth.
Justin Lawrence pitched a 1-2-3 seventh. Caleb Ferguson gave up a run in the eighth before Dennis Santana pitched a scoreless ninth.
At the plate
It was a great day for the Pirate bats, finishing with 10 runs on 14 hits. Just four runners were left on base. Even before the eighth inning, a five-run, six-hit frame, the Pirates had done enough offensively to be in position to win.
Most valuable player
Skenes wasn’t even at his most effective, but what he had was more than enough to beat the Nationals. More importantly, having Skenes on the mound seemed to alleviate some pressure on the Pirate offense.
Up next
The Pirates and Nationals will meet in the second game of their four-game series on Tuesday night at 6:40 p.m. Major League Baseball is celebrating Jackie Robinson Day, with every player on the Pirates and Nationals (and league-wide) wearing Robinson’s No. 42. Mitch Keller (1-1, 4.24 ERA) will throw for Pittsburgh against Nationals righty Jake Irvin (0-0, 5.63). The game will be televised on SportsNet Pittsburgh and broadcast on the radio on 93.7 The Fan.
First Published: April 15, 2025, 1:24 a.m.
Updated: April 15, 2025, 1:55 a.m.
