Cardinals prove they own Paul Skenes after lighting Pirates ace up like no one before

On July 23rd, 2024, St. Louis Cardinals designated hitter Alec Burleson lined a 99-mph fastball from Pittsburgh Pirates phenom Paul Skenes into right field to give the Cardinals a 2-1 ninth-inning lead and eventually the win. It was the first defeat of Skenes' MLB career. Almost two months later, Skenes suffered a tough 4-0 loss in St. Louis, as Andre Pallante pitched seven scoreless innings on September 16th. 

St. Louis Cardinals find a way to get to Paul Skenes once again.

Skenes, the reigning NL Rookie of the Year and NL Cy Young favorite, had his worst career outing on the mound Thursday night. The flame-throwing right-hander allowed five earned runs on six hits to the Cardinals, the first time Skenes allowed five earned runs in his brief career. 

The Cardinals struck first in the top of the third inning with a Pedro Pagés leadoff single into right field. With one out, Masyn singled to left field, moving Pagés to second base and setting up Victor Scott II for the game's first runs. 

After a Willson Contreras strikeout, Brendan Donovan drove in Scott II from third with an RBI single into left field to make it 3-0 Cardinals. 

The Pirates got on the board in the bottom of the fourth when Bryan Reynolds connected on a 1-and-1 pitch from Sonny Gray and drove it over the right-field wall for a leadoff home run. That was the only earned run Gray gave up, as the veteran pitched five innings, struck out four, and allowed three hits. 

The Cardinals got that run back and more in the top of the sixth. Donovan, now hitting .395 on the season, led off the inning with a double. A walk to Nolan Arenado, with Donovan advancing to third on a wild pitch, set up Alec Burleson with two on and no one out. 

The Cardinals ' final game tally was a one-out RBI groundout by Pagés that scored Arenado. 

With the loss, Skenes fell to 12-4 in his career but is now 0-3 in four starts against the Cardinals. When we look at his numbers against St. Louis batters, it's remarkable that the Cardinals have succeeded against Skenes. Let's hope this win can spring the Cardinals into a long winning streak.