Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes (30) watches as Baltimore Orioles’ Dylan Beavers hits a double during the third inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes (30) delivers during the second inning of a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes delivers during the third inning of a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
BALTIMORE (AP) 鈥 After surpassing 200 strikeouts for the first time in his career, Pirates ace Paul Skenes admitted it was good to get a breather.
The NL Cy Young front-runner reached 203, in Pittsburgh’s 2-1, 10-inning loss to Baltimore on Wednesday night.
It might鈥檝e been more had manager Don Kelly not removed the overpowering right-hander after a season-low 64 pitches with an eye toward managing his workload at the back end of his first full season in the majors.
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鈥淭he main goal that I鈥檝e had coming into the past two years is making every start,鈥 said the 23-year-old Skenes, who worked five scoreless, two-hit frames in his 30th outing. 鈥淭here are opportunities to give and take throughout the season, and tonight was kind of one of those. I probably needed it, to be honest.鈥
Skenes has a majors-best 1.92 ERA over 178 innings after combining for 160 1/3 last season between the Pirates and Triple-A Indianapolis,
鈥淚 pitched in September last year but it was different,鈥 Skenes said. 鈥淭hrowing 160 innings with 27 of them in the minors, it鈥檚 not the same as throwing 160 innings all in the big leagues.鈥
He could take up three more turns in Pittsburgh’s rotation before the season concludes, but the outings in 2026 and beyond could be more important; Wednesday鈥檚 loss was the 82nd for the Pirates, guaranteeing a seventh consecutive below-.500 season and 29th out of the last 33.
Kelly said Skenes鈥 late-season workload would be evaluated on a start-by-start basis.
鈥淟ike we鈥檝e talked about with all the guys,鈥 Kelly said. 鈥淛ust trying to make sure that we鈥檙e managing their workload, make sure that they鈥檙e going all the way through the end of the season healthy and ready to finish a full season and be ready for next year.鈥
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Wednesday was Skenes鈥 11th start in which he completed five innings without allowing a run. Eight of those have come since the beginning of July.
He鈥檚 only the second Pirates starter in the modern era (since 1901) to reach 200 strikeouts in 180 innings or fewer. 脫liver P茅rez became the first in 2004.
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