Paul Skenes’ performance to guide the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 3-0 shutout of the Los Angeles Dodgers was dominant with nine strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings.
Skenes shone in Los Angeles and among the most important moments was the strikeout applied to Shohei Ohtani, who was powerless against the quality of the Pirates star’s pitches, who won the pitching duel against another Japanese: Yoshinobu Yamamoto.Emmanuel Valdez, Oneil Cruz and Ke’Bryan Hayes drove in runs for the Pirates, who have won three of four on their visit to Southern California after Skenes claimed victory in this exciting pitching duel.
Skenes shines in front of his family in Los Angeles
Skenes (3-2), a native of Orange County, won in the Los Angeles metropolitan area for the first time, while his family and friends watched from a suite at Dodger Stadium.
The 22-year-old Pittsburgh ace allowed only one runner to reach third, throwing a career-high 108 pitches, and retired Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts three times each.
Yamamoto (3-2) labored through five innings, allowing five hits, four walks and three runs, only one of which was earned. He had allowed just one unearned run in 19 innings in his previous three starts.
The Dodgers’ losing streak
The Dodgers have lost three games in a row and four of five, after beginning a six-game homestand with just their third home loss in 13 games this season.
Pittsburgh attacked Yamamoto immediately in a 32-pitch first inning. Cruz walked, stole second and scored on Valdez’s two-out single.
Henry Davis reached second on Max Muncy‘s throwing error in the fifth inning and scored on Cruz‘s 117.6 mph single. Hayes added an RBI single before Yamamoto escaped.
After Andy Pages hit a double in the fifth, Skenes struck out Ohtani with a curveball that made him buckle.
Read the full article here
