TAMPA, Fla. — Paul Skenes' 21st and final out Wednesday afternoon was his most celebrated, coming back from a 3-0 count to strike out Rays outfielder Jose Caballero to end the seventh inning and finish a strong day on the mound.
"Falling behind 3-0 on the last two hitters of the game is not very good," the Pirates' ace said after a 4-2 win over Tampa Bay at Steinbrenner Field. "It's not as hard as people think it is to throw strikes. I just did it three pitches too late."
Skenes (1-0) pitched seven innings for the first time since July 23 of last year, a span of 12 starts, and gave a struggling Pirates team what it needed to end a four-game losing streak.
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"Paul was really good and went right after them, was really consistent," Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. "Last outing, he was almost just getting his feet underneath him, and today it looked more like what we saw out of him last year: execution with the fastball and being able to go back to it at times when he had to, I thought was really impressive."
Wednesday was the 25th career start for Skenes, 23, last year's National League Rookie of the Year. He finished with a 1.96 ERA last season, and two starts into 2025, he has a 1.46 ERA. Wednesday was just the second time in his career he's thrown at least seven innings without giving up an earned run, and he said he takes pride in being able to stay longer on the mound.
"It's a lot better than going five and a third," he said, referencing his first start, in an Opening Day loss to the Marlins.
The Rays came in 4-1 and tied for the best record in the American League, while the Pirates were 1-5 and closing out a long week in sunny Florida — the first-pitch temperature was 89 degrees Wednesday. Skenes rarely got into trouble — the Rays' only run against him in the sixth inning was aided by a throwing error from shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa and scored on an RBI groundout.
Skenes' ability to work efficiently was clear against the Rays, as the former No. 1 overall draft pick didn't walk a batter and gave up only three hits, with 72 of his 102 pitches coming as strikes.
"He's going to be an elite pitcher," Shelton said. "It's just efficiency. At times, he gets out of the zone, and we have to make sure he gets back in the zone. He's one of those guys that has elite stuff, so when it's in the zone, it's not going to get hit. We just have to make sure he stays in the zone."
As they return home for their first games in Pittsburgh, the bullpen is still a concern -- closer David Bednar was optioned to the minors after two blown saves. Colin Holderman gave up a run in the eighth, and Dennis Santana pitched a scoreless ninth, though Shelton said there are no defined roles yet.
But with each start, Skenes' success is validated, and his stardom reaches closer to celebrity status -- on Wednesday, he was featured online in a photo shoot from GQ Magazine, with shots of him with his girlfriend, Livvy Dunne, and their dog Roux. That brought grief from teammates, of course, though he said that's not an area of expertise.
"I didn't know what GQ was until the offer came," he said, noting that the session came on a rare snow day in Baton Rouge.
Told that Dunne, a gymnast and model with 5.3 million Instagram followers, looked better in the photo shoot than he did, he agreed. "That's what she does," he said.
Greg Auman is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. He previously spent a decade covering the Buccaneers for the Tampa Bay Times and The Athletic. You can follow him on Twitter at @gregauman.
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