The Pirates set season-highs in hits and runs on Monday night at PNC Park, outslugging the Nationals in a 10-3 win. Paul Skenes pitched six strong innings and improved to 2-1, while Nationals starter Brad Lord dropped to 0-1.
Pittsburgh jumped ahead 5-0 in the first five innings before giving two back in a sloppy defensive sixth inning. The Nationals got a third run in the seventh, but the Pirates broke the game open with a five-run eighth inning. Third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes went 2-for-4 with three RBIs, while first baseman Enmanuel Valdez reached all four times, finishing 2-for-2 with two walks, a double and three RBIs.
The Pirates, a day after being shut out on just two hits, finished with 14 hits. They left just four runners on base. They improved to 6-11, while Washington fell to 6-10.
A complete recap of the game can be found here. Below are three of the Post-Gazette’s takeaways from the contest.
Coming back from mistakes
Despite the final score, Monday wasn’t a perfect day for the Pirates. They committed a season-high four errors, hit into three double plays and had two unforced outs on the bases.
Usually, that won’t result in wins. But when you have 14 hits and Skenes on the mound, you can get away with it.
The Pirates do deserve some credit for coming back from mistakes, particularly Valdez and Hayes. Valdez couldn’t handle two Skenes pickoff attempts — both charged as Skenes errors — and was picked off trying to advance to second after a two-RBI single in the fifth. Hayes, a Gold Glove caliber third baseman, had a rare error in the sixth. He was also thrown out rounding first after his first inning RBI single.
Both went on to have key hits late, with Valdez hitting an RBI double and Hayes sealing the game on a two-RBI single. The eighth inning rally clinched the win for the Pirates.
“Mistakes are going to happen,” Hayes said. “You want your mistakes to be aggressive. You don't want to play timid. It was a little rough on defense today, but we'll clean that up.”
Designated hitter Bryan Reynolds, who went 2-for-4 with a run and two RBIs, was happy to see that perseverance from his teammates.
“That’s the nature of the game,” Reynolds said. “It’s a hard game. Things aren’t going to go your way. But if you can step up and help the team, regardless of whatever’s happened, that’s obviously huge.”
All nine hitters had a hit in Monday’s game. The 10 runs were scored by seven different Pirates. Pittsburgh left so few runners on largely because it had eight hits with runners in scoring position.
“I’m just happy that we had eight at-bats with runners in scoring position,” said manager Derek Shelton, drawing laughs. “Coming off this weekend, I was very pleased [with tonight] and I think it’s a credit to our players. They stuck with the approach the entire night.”
History and rivalries
The pregame storyline, beyond each team’s early-season struggles, was the matchup of Skenes and his former LSU teammate Dylan Crews. Crews, the starting Nationals center fielder, was the No. 2 overall pick in 2023.
Pregame, speaking to a large contingent of reporters in the visitors’ clubhouse, Crews said he was excited to face Skenes.
“It's something that we've been looking forward to for a while now,” Crews said. “He's a good buddy of mine. We've had some good history with each other. I'm just excited for this day, it's gonna be fun.”
Crews may have hit a homer off Skenes in 2021, while Skenes was still at Air Force, but Skenes got the better of Crews in both matchups Monday. Skenes got Crews to hit a tapper back to him to end the second inning and induced a groundout to third in the fifth. It took Skenes seven pitches to retire Crews in the latter at-bat.
“[The plan was] just get him out,” Skenes said. “I knew he was fast. That first ball that came back to me, it was shocking how fast he was. … He doesn't have many holes. You've just got to go out there and execute against him. It was good to see him."
Skenes also made some history Monday. Starting catcher Endy Rodriguez left the game in the first inning after a pitch ricocheted off a batter’s foot and into his throwing hand. The laceration, on his index finger, required four stitches and will likely send Rodriguez to the injured list.
Henry Davis came off the bench to catch Skenes. The pair became the first battery of former No. 1 overall picks in Major League history.
“He's one of the most prepared players I've ever been around,” Skenes said of Davis. “For him to come into a tough situation and call the game and catch as well as he did says a lot about him."
Skenes is Skenes
Reynolds downplayed it postgame, but there’s a confidence that comes with having Skenes on the mound. Hayes said the team wanted to be more aggressive at the plate. It’s easier to do that when your ace can back you up.
“I think that's kind of our identity,” Hayes said. “We have guys that can run well, we can hit the ball hard, we have guys that can work counts. Whenever we can do that with our pitching, it's going to be a good recipe for success.”
In six innings, Skenes allowed just three hits and two runs, one earned. He struck out six. He threw 98 pitches and had the two throwing errors, but it was the type of performance that steadies a team.
It was a typical performance from Skenes, and an important one for him after he gave up a career-high five runs against St. Louis last week. It was also one the Pirates needed, especially after the disappointing sweep in Cincinnati.
Skenes said he takes pride in helping stop a slide.
“That's what I was trying to do today,” Skenes said. “It's good to get a win and hopefully start another streak here of a couple wins. We've got some good arms coming up and I think the bats are coming alive, too. We'll see.”
First Published: April 15, 2025, 3:55 a.m.
Updated: April 15, 2025, 3:21 p.m.
