Overview
- Skenes is slated to face Michael Soroka on Wednesday in Phoenix following a 9-0 Diamondbacks win in the opener.
- The 23-year-old gave up five runs with two first-inning homers in his last start against the Cardinals, when he said his early command was off.
- Through seven starts he is 4-2 with a 3.18 ERA, with 39 strikeouts against seven walks across 34 innings.
- Underlying numbers remain strong, including a .182 batting average against, a top-10 strikeout-minus-walk rate of 24.1%, and a 2.24 expected ERA that trails only Shohei Ohtani among similarly used pitchers.
- Pirates manager Don Kelly returns to the dugout for this game after serving a one-game suspension tied to a reliever’s ejection.