Morning Rundown: Pirates split games on St. Patrick's Day
Paul Skenes strikes out seven, Pirates lose in Lakeland
The Pittsburgh Pirates got home runs from Bryan Reynolds, Joey Bart, and Ke’Bryan Hayes at home against the Minnesota Twins, winning 4-2.
Paul Skenes struck out seven while allowing one run on five hits and three walks over 4.2 innings pitched. He was pulled from the game in the fourth inning, only to be put back in to pitch the fifth.
Nick Dombkowski got two outs in the fourth inning.
It was the first home of the season for Hayes and Reynolds, while Bart launched his third. Caleb Ferguson, Dennis Santana, Ryan Borucki, and Tanner Rainey closed out the game.
Santana allowed a towering home run to Matt Wallner. Mike Ford hit a double against Paul Skenes in the second inning.
It was a mixed bag for Skenes, who hit triple-digits twice but struggled with his control a bit. He did strike out seven batters and pick up 17 whiffs on 41 swings.
The fastball alone generated 10 on 22 swings (45% miss rate). It also had multiple instances of getting hit for an exit velocity of over 100 mph.
Over in Lakeland, the Pirates dropped their game with the Tigers 9-6, with Bailey Falter returning to the mound. He allowed three runs on five hits and a walk over 2.1 innings pitched, striking out four.
Justin Lawrence allowed two runs in his inning. Nick Gonzales and Endy Rodriguez each drove in a pair of runs. Jack Suwinski (double), Gonzales (double), and Rodriguez (triple) had the only extra-base hits of the game.
Yordany De Los Santos went 1-1, entering the game later on. Isiah Kiner-Falefa picked up three hits out of the leadoff spot.
The Pirates continue their final stretch of games this spring with a game at 1 pm ET against the Philadelphia Phillies. Thomas Harrington is currently the scheduled starter.
Top Exit Velocity
Hudson Head - 107.2 mph - Groundout
Nick Yorke - 105.2 mph - Single
Ke’Bryan Hayes - 104.8 mph - Groundout
Jack Suwinski - 104.5 mph - Double
Nick Solak - 104.1 mph - Flyout
Top Pitch Velocity
Paul Skenes - 100.4 mph
Paul Skenes - 100 mph
Paul Skenes - 99.4 mph
Paul Skenes - 99.2 mph
Paul Skenes - 99.1 mph
Most Whiffs
Paul Skenes - 17
Bailey Falter - 5
Peter Strzelecki - 5
Caleb Ferguson - 5
Ryan Borucki - 3
Grant Ford - 3
Drake Fellows - 3
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Perdomo traded from the Braves to the Angels. I has hoped the Pirates would be able to get him back, and I was pretty sure the Braves wouldn't have room on their 26 man roster. Was avaliable for essentially nothing. The Pirates really turned his career around. Lefty who threw 94-95, why not take a chance?
Watched the replay last night and it was quite obvious that Skenes was trying to work the outside of the plate vs lefties.
Although Skenes was very good, this is not the Skenes you'll see once they count.
Noticed Nick Yorke was not ready to deal with Skenes's 1st pickoff attempt and he looks pretty bad in general at 1b. I'm watching Yorke and I'm not seeing a good athlete, kinda boxy and doesn't have good quickness.