Paul Skenes will have another chance to bolster his case for the National League Cy Young Award when he and the host Pittsburgh Pirates oppose the Cincinnati Reds in the opener of a four-game series on Thursday night.
In a matchup of right-handers, the Reds will go with Brady Singer.
Despite the Pirates having already played the Reds six times this season, Skenes (6-8, 2.02 ERA) has yet to face Cincinnati this year. Skenes went 3-0 with a 0.53 ERA in three starts against the Reds as a rookie last year, allowing only one run in 17 innings while striking out 25 and walking two.
Skenes once again finds himself trying to put the Pirates back on track, as they have lost four of their past six games.
Meanwhile, Skenes appears to be gaining momentum toward another significant milestone in his young major league career.
The LSU product, who is holding opposing batters to a .187 batting average and whose ERA leads all qualified starters, entered August as the prohibitive favorite to claim his first Cy Young Award in only his second season.
However, Skenes can't afford to have many more performances like his most recent outing, when he allowed four runs on five hits over five-plus innings despite striking out eight on Saturday against the Colorado Rockies. The four runs were the most he had allowed since June 25 and equaled his second-highest total of the season.
The Pirates could use a vintage Skenes start on Thursday to give their bullpen a respite after the relievers covered a combined 16 2/3 innings over the past three days.
"The bullpen has been taxed," Pirates manager Don Kelly said after the team's 4-2 loss to the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday in the decisive game of a three-game series. "They've thrown a lot of innings and done a good job keeping us in games and giving us a chance to win games."
Singer (9-8, 4.36 ERA) will face the Pirates for the third time this season as he tries to help the Reds bounce back from a 6-1 loss at the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday. Cincinnati, which is battling to remain in the NL wild-card race, had been shooting for a three-game sweep.
Singer went 1-1 with a 4.50 ERA in his previous two starts this season against the Pirates. He tossed five innings of three-run ball in a home win on April 11, then permitted two runs in five innings during a road loss on May 21.
Singer is coming off back-to-back wins and two of his best starts of the season.
After fanning eight while firing 7 1/3 innings and allowing one run to the Tampa Bay Rays on July 27, he threw six shutout innings against Atlanta on Friday. He limited the visiting Braves to four hits and one walk while striking out 10 in a 3-2 victory.
"After the All-Star break, it's time to go," Singer said after his most recent start. "And, yeah, we just keep putting together series wins and keep winning games and giving us a chance to win.
"We're gonna be there. We just got to get there to start. This team's awesome. I love coming to work with them every day."
--Field Level Media
