In the first outing of his career at Boston’s legendary Fenway Park, the stellar Paul Skenes scored a tight 4-2 victory. The right-hander went six innings, retired six Red Sox batters by strikes and allowed two runs and seven hits.
The only blemish on his performance was the home run hit by rookie Roman Anthony, a colossal shot to right field. The Boston outfielder quickly pulled his arms in on a 99-mph fastball from Skenes and sent the ball flying 408 feet.
The blow was suffered in the front row by Olivia Dunne, the girlfriend of the Pirates pitcher, who watched the game live from Fenway Park and made it known on social media. The famous gymnast shared a short video during an at-bat by Cedanne Rafaela that ended with a strikeout by Skenes.
Roman Anthony’s home run was the fourth hit off the Pittsburgh ace in August, the month in which he has allowed the most home runs in his career, tied with June 2024. However, the right-hander boasts a home run average of 0.5 per nine innings in 2025, the best in the majors alongside Framber Valdez (Houston).
Skenes’ home run history
In his young career, Paul Skenes has faced at least twice 259 batters, but none of them have managed to hit more than one home run. The first to disappear the ball in a Major League game was Nico Hoerner (Cubs), on May 11, 2024.
As a very significant detail, of the 20 home runs he has allowed in his career, only four have been with men on base.
Of all those connections beyond the limits, three occurred in the same duel against the Cubs, on May 1 of this year. That day, Dansby Swanson, Seiya Suzuki and Kyle Tucker punished the right-hander.
In addition to Anthony and the four Cubs players, the other men who have managed to hit home runs against Skenes are:
- Matt Vierling (Detroit)
- Shohei Ohtani (Dodgers)
- Andy Pages (Dodgers)
- Yandy Diaz (Tampa Bay Rays)
- Jarred Kelenic (Atlanta)
- Jeff McNeill (Mets)
- Nolan Arenado (Cardinals)
- Teoscar Hernandez (Dodgers)
- Luke Raley (Seattle)
- Kyle Manzardo (Cleveland Guardians)
- Christian Walker (Houston)
- Trevor Larnach (Minnesota)
- Jordan Beck (Colorado)
- Sal Frelick (Milwaukee)
- Brice Turang (Milwaukee)
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