Pittsburgh Pirates at Chicago Cubs

· Major League Baseball

Pittsburgh Pirates

21-25, 12-13 Away

Final
9 - 3

Chicago Cubs

25-21, 13-8 Home

Paul Skenes strikes out 11 in 6 no-hit innings, gets 1st win as the Pirates beat the Cubs 9-3

Jared Triolo crushes a 2-run HR vs. Kyle Hendricks

Skenes allowed just one baserunner — Michael Busch on a full-count walk on the eighth pitch of the fifth-inning plate appearance — in an utterly dominant performance. After pitching through some nerves in his big league debut against the Cubs last weekend, he looked quite comfortable on a picturesque day at Wrigley Field.

“It's really tough to compete without fastball execution, no matter who you are,” Skenes said. “It was a lot better today, something I could lean on a little bit more than the last week.”

Skenes (1-0), who turns 22 on May 29, struck out his first seven batters, including the side in the first on pitches of at least 100 mph. He struck out Mike Tauchman on a 100 mph fastball on his 100th and final pitch — his 12th to reach triple digits.

The No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 amateur draft became the third rookie with seven strikeouts to start a game, joining Jacob deGrom on Sept. 15, 2014, and Jim Deshaies on Sept. 23, 1986. He also became the first rookie with an outing of at least six no-hit innings and 10-plus strikeouts since Chris Heston threw a no-hitter for San Francisco against the New York Mets on June 9, 2015.

“It was extremely impressive,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “I mean he went right after them.”

Andrew McCutchen and Jared Triolo homered for Pittsburgh, which held on for a 5-4 victory in the opener of the four-game series on Thursday night. Triolo and Yasmani Grandal each had two hits and three RBI.

Chicago played without second baseman Nico Hoerner, who missed his fourth consecutive game because of left hamstring tightness. He is day to day.

The Cubs got their first hit when Christopher Morel lined a single into right against Carmen Mlodzinski with two outs in the seventh. Miguel Amaya homered and Morel added a two-run double in the eighth.

Chicago finished with four hits in its fourth loss in five games.

Triolo connected for a two-run drive in the third against Kyle Hendricks, and Pittsburgh broke it open with three more runs in each of the next two innings. Grandal's two-run single made it 8-0 in the fifth.

Hendricks (0-4) was tagged for a season-high eight runs and 11 hits in 4 2/3 innings in his second start since returning from of a low back strain.

“Just bizarre. So many soft hits, falling in front,” Hendricks said. “So just got to stick with the process, stick with down in the zone, stick with executing, and hopefully that's got to switch.”

Hendricks has allowed seven earned runs in three of his seven starts this season. Asked about the right-hander's spot in the rotation, manager Craig Counsell was non-committal.

“I think we got to look at the start a little closer and see what's going on. ... We've got to keep doing our best to help Kyle turn the corner,” Counsell said.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Cubs: SS Dansby Swanson (right knee sprain) took batting practice against LHPs Drew Smyly (right hip impingement) and Jordan Wicks (forearm strain). ... RHP Colten Brewer (low back strain) was placed on the 15-day injured list, and RHP Porter Hodge was recalled from Triple-A Iowa. ... RHP Julian Merryweather (rib stress fracture) has “turned a corner a little bit,” Counsell said. The plan is for Merryweather to begin a throwing program on Monday. ... RHP Yency Almonte (shoulder strain) is doing a strengthening progression. Counsell said Almonte could begin throwing next week.

Shota Imanaga (5-0, 0.96 ERA) pitches on Saturday for the Cubs, and fellow left-hander Bailey Falter (2-2, 4.15 ERA) starts for the Pirates. Imanaga struck out eight in five scoreless innings in a no-decision at Atlanta on Monday night. Falter is going for his first win since April 23.

How can I watch Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Chicago Cubs?

TV Channel: Pirates at Cubs 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on MLB.tv.
Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Matchup Prediction

Cubs: 55.9%

Pirates: 44.1%

*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

	9th Inning	Crow-Armstrong struck out looking.
	9th Inning	Madrigal fouled out to catcher.
	9th Inning	Mastrobuoni struck out swinging.
	9th Inning	Grandal grounded out to shortstop.
	9th Inning	Suwinski flied out to left.
	9th Inning	N. Gonzales lined out to left.

Statistics

PIT		CHC
1	Games Played	1
1	Team Games Played	1
0	Hit By Pitch	0
14	Ground Balls	10
9	Strikeouts	15
8	Runs Batted In	3
0	Sacrifice Hit	0
15	Hits	4
2	Stolen Bases	0
1	Walks	4
0	Catcher Interference	0
9	Runs	3
0	Ground Into Double Play	0
1	Sacrifice Flies	0
41	At Bats	31
2	Home Runs	1
0	Grand Slam Home Runs	0
15	Runners Left On Base	6
0	Triples	0
1	Game Winning RBIs	0
0	Intentional Walks	0
1	Doubles	1
19	Fly Balls	6
0	Caught Stealing	0
171	Pitches	181
0	Games Started	0
0	Pinch At Bats	0
0	Pinch Hits	0
0.0	Player Rating	0.0
1	Is Qualified	1
1	Is Qualified In Steals	0
22	Total Bases	8
43	Plate Appearances	35
324.0	Projected Home Runs	162.0
3	Extra Base Hits	2
8.4	Runs Created	1.7
.366	Batting Average	.129
.000	Pinch Hit Average	.000
.537	Slugging Percentage	.258
.244	Secondary Average	.258
.372	On Base Percentage	.229
.909	OBP Pct + SLG Pct	.487
0.7	Ground To Fly Ball Ratio	1.7
8.4	Runs Created Per 27 Outs	1.7
59.0	Batter Rating	21.0
20.5	At Bats Per Home Run	31.0
1.00	Stolen Base Percentage	0.00
3.98	Pitches Per Plate Appearance	5.17
.171	Isolated Power	.129
0.11	Walk To Strikeout Ratio	0.27
.023	Walks Per Plate Appearance	.114
-.122	Secondary Average Minus Batting Average	.129
17.0	Runs Produced	6.0
0.9	Runs Ratio	1.0
0.5	Patience Ratio	0.4
0.4	Balls In Play Average	0.2
105.3	MLB Rating	67.5
0.0	Offensive Wins Above Replacement	0.0
0.0	Wins Above Replacement	0.0