DETROIT (AP) — Paul Skenes struck out nine and earned his second career victory and the Pittsburgh Pirates salvaged a doubleheader split with a 10-2 win over the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday.
Skenes (2-0), making his fourth major league start, gave up two runs and three hits in six innings. Skenes has 30 strikeouts in 22 innings and a 2.45 ERA.
Skenes doesn’t have much of a sweet tooth, but he was looking forward to dinner on his 22nd birthday.
“I heard we’ve got Chick-fil-A on the plane,” he said. “I’ll be crushing some of that.”
Skenes handled the Tigers with not only his fastballs, which regularly registered at 98 and 99 mph, but his “splinker.” He got a majority of his strikeouts with the two-seam fastball, which registered as a splitter on the scoreboard.
“It was the pitch he used the most,” manager Derek Shelton said. “He did a really good job. He got some at-bats that were extended. The most impressive thing was he still finished hitters.”
Andrew McCutchen had a three-run homer in the third inning for his 1,600th career hit. McCutchen had three hits and a walk while driving in four runs. Nick Gonzales also had three hits, including a solo homer.
Tigers starter Keider Montero (0-1), making his major league debut, gave up four runs and five hits while striking out five in 4 1/3 innings. Montero got the promotion from Triple-A Toledo earlier in the day.
Matt Vierling hit his fourth homer in three games for Detroit, which had its four-game winning streak snapped.
“Our at-bats were pretty good early,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “We made him work a ton. It looked like we had a couple of opportunities to chase him early. His split, or whatever he calls it, was really good. It’s really effective and really impactful.”
McCutchen’s homer off Montero’s curveball gave Pittsburgh a 3-1 lead. Gonzales homered in the fourth. The Pirates added six runs over the final four innings.
They have scored six or more runs in all of Skenes’ starts.
“Obviously nice to pitch with run support,” he said.
In the opener, Vierling had a three-run homer and drove in four runs in Detroit’s 8-0 victory. Tarik Skubal bounced back from his only loss this season by holding the Pirates to three singles and a walk in seven innings.
ROSTER MOVES
Pirates: Left-hander Martin Perez (groin) was placed on the 15-day injured list and catcher Joey Bart (thumb) was placed on the 10-day IL. Third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes was activated from the 10-day IL and went 0-for-2 in the opener. Catcher Grant Koch walked once and struck out three times in his major league debut after getting called up from Triple-A Indianapolis.
Tigers: Outfielder Kerry Carpenter (spine) was placed on the 10-day IL. Outfielder Akil Baddoo was recalled from Triple-A Toledo and drove in a run in the second game.
UP NEXT
Pirates: Left-hander Bailey Falter (3-2, 3.55 ERA) will start the opener of a three-game series at Toronto on Friday night.
Tigers: Right-hander Jack Flaherty (1-4, 3.84 ERA) will start the opener of a four-game series at Boston on Thursday night.
DODGERS 10, METS 3
NEW YORK (AP) — Shohei Ohtani homered and drove in three runs, Will Smith went deep twice and the Los Angeles Dodgers completed a three-game sweep of the frustrated New York Mets with a 10-3 victory on Wednesday.
Smith’s second homer was a tiebreaking solo shot off Adam Ottavino (1-2) to start a six-run eighth inning capped by Ohtani’s two-run drive. Miguel Vargas blooped a two-run double, and Miguel Rojas bounced an RBI single over a drawn-in infield during the latest meltdown by a dreadful Mets bullpen.
Jason Heyward had a pinch-hit triple in the eighth and added a solo homer in the ninth. Rojas matched a career high with four of Los Angeles’ 16 hits.
Ohtani also had an RBI single. He began the day in a 7-for-37 (.189) slide since his previous home run May 17 against Cincinnati.
Ohtani’s 14th homer of the season came off reliever Jorge López, who was ejected moments later for shouting at third base umpire Ramon De Jesus over an appeal ruling on Freddie Freeman’s checked swing.
New York (22-33) has lost 10 of 12 and 15 of 19.
Smith also doubled and scored three times as the NL West leaders took all three games at Citi Field after arriving on a five-game losing streak. The All-Star catcher has three homers in the last two games — he connected in the nightcap of Tuesday’s doubleheader sweep.
Blake Treinen (2-0) worked a scoreless seventh for the win.
Los Angeles built a 3-0 lead on Smith’s first homer and RBI singles by Andy Pages and Ohtani. Smith doubled leading off the fourth and scored on Pages’ base hit.
But unbeaten starter James Paxton was pulled after throwing 50 pitches in three shutout innings, and New York tied it in the fifth. No. 9 batter Tomás Nido launched a two-run homer off Elieser Hernández, who walked Francisco Lindor before he scored on J.D. Martinez’s double against Michael Grove.
A spokesperson for the Dodgers said there was nothing physically wrong with Paxton, often derailed by injuries throughout his 11-year career.
Mets starter David Peterson allowed three runs — two earned — and seven hits over five innings in his season debut following left hip surgery. Peterson cost himself with an errant pickoff attempt prior to Ohtani’s run-scoring single.
