PITTSBURGH — Paul Skenes‘ changeups and sweepers were a lethal combo for the Snakes on Sunday, as the Pirates’ ace fanned nine over six scoreless innings to propel the Bucs to a series win at PNC Park, beating the Diamondbacks, 6-0.
Seven of Skenes’ nine strikeouts came via those two offspeed offerings, several of which came in high leverage. The Diamondbacks were able to put a runner in scoring position with less than two outs in each inning from the second through fourth, but were unable to score.
James McCann twice had an opportunity to punch home a run with a runner on third and less than two outs, but Skenes fanned him both times — first with a changeup in the second inning and then a runaway sweeper in the fourth.
Skenes finished the day allowing three hits, one walk and a hit batter in his six innings.
Oneil Cruz and Bryan Reynolds were the catalysts on offense Sunday, with Cruz getting the Pirates on the board in the second when he scored from first on a Tommy Pham single. Reynolds doubled home Nick Gonzales in the third before coming home on a Cruz base hit and Reynolds scored again in the sixth on a Cruz double.
Cruz went 2-for-3 with a walk, a double and those two RBIs.
A series win over the Diamondbacks clinched a winning homestand for the Pirates, who rebounded from an opening sweep at the hands of the White Sox to go 5-4 in Pittsburgh. They’ll now kick off a six-game road trip with three games in San Francisco, where Mitch Keller (4-10, 3.53 ERA) will take the ball Monday. First pitch is expected to be at 9:45 p.m. ET.
