Skenes (2-1), who was shaken during an opening day loss to the New York Mets, struck out six and walked two in 6 1/3 innings while lowering his ERA to 5.54. The Padres’ first of two hits off the 23-year-old was a clean single to left field by Fernando Tatis Jr. with one out in the sixth.
Advertisement
Xander Bogaerts homered off Skenes, the first round-trip hit allowed by a Pittsburgh starter this season, with one out in the seventh. Skenes walked out to a loud cheer from the announced crowd of 9,061 on a cold night as the Pirates won for the sixth time in seven games.
Oneil Cruz hit a two-run double off Nick Pivetta (1-2) in the fifth and Nick Gonzales added a two-run single to start a five-run eighth for the Pirates. Skenes and three relievers combined to throw a three-hitter.
Pirates rookie shortstop Konnor Griffin had the second and third hits of his major league career. The 19-year-old hit an infield single in the fifth and scored from first on Cruz’s laser down the left field line. He added a liner to center for a two-run single in the eighth, a few hours after Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said some ingredients for a long-term contract for Griffin were “in place.”
Pivetta was dominant for four innings before struggling in the fifth. The veteran right-hander allowed two runs on four hits with one walk and a season-high eight strikeouts.
Next
The series ends on Wednesday. Michael King (0-1, 3.38 ERA) starts for the Padres against Pittsburgh’s Mitch Keller (1-0, 1.50).
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/mlb