Pirates' Paul Skenes Throws 6 Scoreless Innings, Lowers MLB-Best ERA to 1.83

Paul Skenes delivered a dominant performance for the Pittsburgh Pirates, striking out nine and allowing just three hits over six scoreless innings in a 6-0 shutout of the Arizona Diamondbacks. This outing marked Skenes' most extensive workload in over a month, as he threw 99 pitches while maintaining a major league-best ERA of 1.83. Pittsburgh manager Don Kelly noted the team was gradually increasing Skenes' pitch count to a more normal level, emphasizing careful management in hot conditions. The Pirates' pitching staff has been strong recently, outscoring Arizona 8-0 over the final two games after a close 1-0 loss. The Pirates also provided more run support than usual, with this being only the seventh time in 22 starts that Pittsburgh scored more than three runs behind Skenes. Meanwhile, Arizona struggled offensively, scoring only one unearned run in the entire series.