Paul Skenes made Friday night at Dodger Stadium a special one, not just for himself but for around 35 family members and friends who came to watch him pitch. The Pittsburgh Pirates’ 22-year-old star from Orange County reserved a suite and handed out tickets to loved ones.
“I was playing for free tonight,” he joked.
With his hometown crowd cheering him on, Skenes faced off against the Los Angeles Dodgers’ ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto in what may have been one of the toughest challenges of his young career. But he delivered — showing confidence, control, and a growing arsenal of pitches.
Skenes went deep into the seventh inning, throwing a career-high 108 pitches, allowing just five hits and striking out nine without walking a batter. He held stars like Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts hitless in their at-bats against him, and worked around hits by Freddie Freeman to keep Los Angeles scoreless.
The Pirates beat the Dodgers 3-0, with Skenes improving his record to 3-2.
Despite his self-criticism over some inconsistencies, Skenes acknowledged he executed better than in his previous two starts against LA. “Even when you make your pitches, they can still find a way to get on base,” he said. “But that’s just how good they are. You’ve got to find a way to work through innings.”
He showcased his ability to escape jams in the fourth and fifth. In the fourth, Freeman reached third after a tricky double to right, but Skenes shut the door with a groundout, a strikeout, and a flyout. In the fifth, after giving up a two-out double to Andy Pages and falling behind 3-1 to Ohtani, he came back with a foul-tip splitter and then struck out the MVP with a sharp curveball.
When asked about the gutsy pitch selection, Skenes smiled and said, “What do I have to lose? Let’s see what I’m made of.”
Manager Derek Shelton praised his young pitcher’s composure. “You saw why Paul Skenes is who he is. To face the top of their lineup and come out clean is really impressive.”
Skenes returned for the seventh and struck out Will Smith with a devastating splitter before walking off to loud cheers — even from some Dodgers fans.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts gave him credit: “He’s one of the best. When he needed strikeouts, he got them. He mixed speeds well, and we just couldn’t do much.”
Yamamoto came into the game on a hot streak, having not allowed an earned run in three straight starts and carrying a 0.93 ERA over the past month. But the Pirates managed five singles and took advantage of a costly throwing error by Max Muncy that helped lead to two unearned runs in the fifth.
While Yamamoto settled in later, his offense couldn’t back him up.
“If you love pitching, this was your kind of game,” said Shelton. “Two guys showing off command and variety. It was fun to watch.”
For Skenes, the win meant more than just numbers. It was a rare family reunion. “Today was kind of a family get-together,” he said. “All my mom’s brothers, my dad’s brother, their families — everyone was here. That hasn’t happened in a while, so it was great to share that moment.”
