Paul Skenes' 8 innings of brilliance leads Pirates to shutout win against Diamondbacks

Colin Beazley, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on May 7, 2026

Published in Baseball

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PHOENIX — Paul Skenes was brilliant. The Pirates needed him to be.

Skenes allowed just two baserunners, both fifth-inning singles, in eight scoreless innings to lead the Pirates to a 1-0 win against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday night at Chase Field. Brandon Lowe’s first-inning homer, two batters into the game, was the only run that scored.

The Pirates’ ace threw 97 pitches and had a real chance of completing what would have been his first career nine-inning complete game. Instead, manager Don Kelly elected to bring in Gregory Soto for the save. Soto allowed a walk but didn’t allow Geraldo Perdomo to advance past first.

Skenes, rebounding from a rare bad outing Thursday against the St. Louis Cardinals, flirted with perfection as he did in his prior start in Milwaukee. While this one didn’t get as far — Skenes “merely” retired the first 14 batters he faced, compared to 20 against the Brewers — it was still a dominant outing.

The Diamondbacks finally got a baserunner in the fifth, when Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit a 50.8 mph tapper to Skenes’ right. It would have been a tough play for Skenes to make, and his throw to first was offline. Nolan Arenado, who graduated from the same high school as Skenes (El Toro High in Lakewood, Calif.), followed with a hard-hit liner to left.

But those were the lone baserunners Skenes allowed. Gabriel Moreno lined out and Skenes retired the final 10 batters he faced.

It was over when…

… Soto closed the game. Corbin Carroll had a hard-hit two-out grounder, but it was directly at first baseman Ryan O’Hearn.

On the mound

Skenes was incredibly efficient, needing just 80 pitches to complete seven innings. His career-high remains 108 pitches against the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2025, though he threw 104 in his last outing Thursday.

Most impressive was that he turned on his strikeout stuff in the eighth. He’d struck out just four through the first seven innings, then found another gear to strike out Gurriel, Arenado and Moreno.

At the plate

The Pirates were lucky Skenes was so dominant, because they missed a number of opportunities to score. Spencer Horwitz led off the second with his first career triple, then was erased on a 3-2-5-6 fielder’s choice double play. Oneil Cruz grounded to Ildemaro Vargas at first, who threw home to get Horwitz in a rundown. Henry Davis, on first after a walk, tried to be aggressive and take an extra base with Horwitz in the rundown, only to be thrown out easily at third.

Konnor Griffin reached third in the seventh after singling (extending his hitting streak to eight games), stealing second (he’s 8 of 8 on steal attempts) and being balked to third. But Cruz grounded to second and Ketel Marte made a perfect throw home to get the speedy Griffin.

Most valuable player

Skenes. Who else?

Up next

The Pirates will look to end the series with momentum on Thursday afternoon, with first pitch scheduled for 3:40 p.m. Eastern time. Mitch Keller (3-1, 2.85 ERA) will look to build off of Friday’s seven-inning outing and will face Diamondbacks right-hander Zac Gallen (1-2, 4.45). The game will be televised on SportsNet Pittsburgh and broadcast on the radio on 100.1 FM and 1020 AM.

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