For 6 1/3 innings Tuesday night, Pirates right-hander Paul Skenes wasn’t just unhittable, he was transcendental.
Rockies center fielder Mickey Moniak finally broke the spell, poking a one-out single to left center in the seventh inning. Pittsburgh center fielder Oneil Cruz made a desperate dive for the ball but came up empty. So Skenes, who attended the Air Force Academy, had to settle for a merely mortal eight innings of two-hit, 10-strikeout pitching in Pittsburgh’s 3-1 victory.
Colorado’s other hit off Skenes was a one-out double by Troy Johnston in the eighth. The Rockies (16-26) lost for the ninth time in their last 11 games.
Key moments: The Pirates’ offense didn’t do much against Colorado pitching, but then, they didn’t need to. They took a 1-0 lead in the first inning off Colorado right-hander Michael Lorenzen. Oneil Cruz led off with a double over Moniak’s head in center and scored on Nick Gonzalez’s two-out single.
Pittsburgh took a 2-0 lead in the fifth, combining a Cruz double and a Brandon Lowe single off of Lorenzen. The Bucs tacked on a third run on Bryan Reynolds’ RBI single off Victor Vodnik in the seventh.
Colorado, blanked 6-0 by the Phillies on Sunday, avoided a second straight shutout on back-to-back doubles by Jordan Beck and Hunter Goodman in the ninth.
Who’s hot: Johnston, who reached on a hit-by-pitch in the fifth inning, was the only Rockies baserunner to get on twice. Johnston is hitting .328 with an .860 OPS. He’s hit safely in 16 of his last 18 starts, hitting .369 with nine RBIs over that span.
Who’s not: Edouard Julien, who’s been so good from the leadoff spot for most of the season, went 0 for 3 with a strikeout on Tuesday, his average dipping to .260. After hitting 2 for 18 with nine strikeouts on the last homestand, Julien is 1 for 7 on the current road trip.
Worth noting: Over his last eight starts, Skenes, the 2025 National League Cy Young Award winner, has a 1.83 ERA. In his last start, he took a 1-0 decision over Arizona after allowing just two hits and striking out seven over eight scoreless innings last Wednesday. The right-hander is 9-1 with a 1.65 ERA and 94 strikeouts in 13 career starts vs. the National League West.
Pitching probables
Wednesday: Rockies LHP Jose Quintana (1-2, 3.90 ERA)at Pirates RHP Mitch Keller (4-1, 2.87 ERA), 4:40 p.m.
Thursday: Rockies RHP Chase Dollander (3-2, 3.35) at Pirates RHP Carmen Mlodzinski (2-3, 4.50 ERA), 10:35 a.m.
Friday: Diamondbacks RHP Merrill Kelly (2-3, 7.62) at Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (1-4, 6.00), 6:40 p.m.
TV: Rockies.TV
Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM
