Major League Baseball

Paul Skenes shines again, but Pirates blow late lead to Giants in 7-6 loss

Published May. 23, 2024 4:20 p.m. ET

Paul Skenes allowed one run over six solid innings but the San Francisco Giants rallied against the Pittsburgh Pirates' bullpen for a 7-6 win Thursday.

Matt Chapman hit a three-run homer off Hunter Stratton (1-1) in the eighth and Brett Wisely delivered a go-ahead single off Aroldis Chapman five batters later as the Giants overcame a big deficit for the second time in less than 24 hours.

San Francisco trailed by five early in a 9-5 extra-inning victory on Wednesday. The Giants were down 6-2 through seven Thursday after Bryan Reynolds' second home run in two days appeared to give the Pirates plenty of wiggle room to help Skenes win his second consecutive start.

Not this time.

Chapman, Wisely, Lamont Wade Jr. and Heliot Ramos had two hits apiece for the Giants, who won for just the fifth time in their last 13 road games. Luke Jackson (2-1) picked up the win by working the seventh. Tyler Rogers pitched the ninth for his first save this season.

The comeback came after Skenes had long since exited following another impressive outing.

[Paul Skenes' electric start shifts MLB odds: 'A buzz every time he pitches']

The 6-foot-6 right-hander struck out just three in his third major league start but expertly worked his way around traffic on the bases. The 21-year-old rookie allowed six hits (all singles) with a walk while lowering his ERA to 2.25.

The top pick in the 2023 amateur draft has become an immediate sensation in Pittsburgh. A crowd of 23,162 that included Skenes' girlfriend, gymnast/influencer Livvy Dunne — more than double what the club had been averaging for weekday matinees this season — came out to see the hard-throwing Skenes and his trademark mustache, a look that is getting nearly as much attention as his 100-plus mph fastball.

Six days removed from a dominant start at Chicago in which he tossed six hitless innings against the Cubs, Skenes wasn't quite as overpowering against the Giants. Only four of his 93 pitches reached triple digits and he relied more on contact to work himself out of trouble, using a pair of double plays and some solid defensive work by third baseman Jared Triolo to get through San Francisco's lineup nearly three times.

It's when Skenes left that things got dicey. When he was in, the Pirates rolled.

Joey Bart hit a 434-shot off the batter's eye behind the center-field fence in the fourth for the first grand slam of his career. Bart, taken second overall in the 2018 draft by the Giants before being acquired by Pittsburgh in April, also added a double. The catcher is hitting .391 (9 of 23) during his six-game hitting streak.

Bart's day ended a little early when he was ejected by first base umpire Alex Tossi after grounding out to end the eighth.

Andrew McCutchen led off the bottom of the first with his seventh home run of the season for Pittsburgh.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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