CHICAGO — Paul Skenes pitched five effective innings despite struggling with his position, and the Pittsburgh Pirates handed the Chicago Cubs another tough loss with a 5-0 victory Tuesday night.
Skenes worked his way out of a bases-loaded situation in the first two innings. The rookie right-hander allowed four hits and walked four — matching his season high — but the No. 1 pick in last year’s amateur draft managed six strikeouts.
“He kept his composure,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “He stayed calm even as the pitch count increased, and he was able to complete five for us.”
“Overall, as talented as he is, he has to work hard sometimes. And today was one of those days where he had to work hard and he did a good job.”
After Skenes (9-2) was eliminated, Colin Holderman, Carmen Mlodzinski and David Bednar combined for four one-hit innings.
Chicago had won six straight games – all on the road – before losing the first two of a three-game series against Pittsburgh at Wrigley Field. The Cubs are 4 1/2 games back in the race for the final NL wild card after Atlanta beat Colorado 3-0 on Tuesday night.
“We played as well as we could in the first three innings without scoring,” said Cubs manager Craig Counsell. “After that, we didn’t really create any more chances.”
“We didn’t score a goal and that’s not good enough.”
Chicago right-hander Kyle Hendricks (3-11) had five strikeouts while pitching five two-run innings, coming in to start after Justin Steele was sidelined with elbow soreness.
Pittsburgh took a two-run lead in the third inning, capped by Rowdy Tellez’s RBI single.
With one out and runners on second and third base in the seventh inning, Jared Triolo hit an 0-1 sweeper from Tyson Miller deep into left-center field for his seventh home run.
Skenes, who had 11 strikeouts in six hitless innings in his first start at Wrigley on May 17, said seeing a team multiple times should help him in the long run.
“I don’t think it makes me any worse, for sure,” he said. “We just have to find ways to get other guys out — that’s just what we have to do in this game, especially against hitters you’re going to see four times.”
IMPORTANT
The Pirates have acquired left-hander Joey Wentz from Detroit via the waivers list.
Next
Pittsburgh’s RHP Domingo Germán (0-0, 6.11 ERA) makes his second start of the season on Wednesday night against LHP Shota Imanaga (11-3, 3.14 ERA). The winning team will win the season series, which is tied 6-6.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB
