Paul Skenes continues to make history in his second season in the majors, but he knows he likely has only a few more chances to bolster his case for his first Cy Young Award.
The next opportunity comes Thursday night when Skenes opposes Blake Snell as the host Pittsburgh Pirates try to complete a three-game sweep of the reigning World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers.
Skenes (9-9, 2.05 ERA) owns a 2.01 career ERA, that best by any pitcher in the live-ball era (since 1920) through his first 51 career starts.
The right-hander is 2-1 with a 3.63 ERA in three career starts against the Dodgers. Skenes tossed 6 1/3 shutout innings and struck out nine while allowing only five hits and no walks to earn a 3-0 win in Los Angeles on April 25.
The Pirates (63-77), who are 51-51 since Don Kelly was promoted to manager May 8, have said they would like to keep Skenes under 200 innings for the season.
Their 23-year-old ace enters his Thursday start having already pitched a career-high 167 innings over 28 starts.
His most recent outing was not his sharpest this season and once again tested his resolve. However, Skenes worked his way out of multiple jams and evened his record despite matching a season-high seven hits allowed. Skenes gave up two runs (one earned), walked one and struck out six over six innings in a 4-2 win over the host Boston Red Sox on Friday.
“With Paul, he’s got that ability, you see the stuff that he’s got, but he’s got the ability to make pitches when he has to, induce double plays, get punchouts,” Kelly said. “Just an elite competitor.”
Snell (3-3, 2.41) will try to help snap the Dodgers out of their recent woes. Los Angeles has dropped four of its past five games to fall two games behind the Philadelphia Phillies in the race for the second National League first-round playoff bye.
Snell returned from the paternity list on Friday and took a 3-0 loss to the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks. He gave up three runs on four hits and three walks while striking out eight over 5 1/3 innings.
The Dodgers (78-61) saw a drop in Snell’s fastball velocity as he averaged 93.5 mph during the start, well off his 95.2 mph average for the season.
“I had a busy week, man. A lot going on,” Snell said after that outing. “I’m not worried about (the diminished velocity). I know what’s going on, so it’ll come back. I’m zero worried about it. I mean, I was aware of it, but I’m not gonna push it. It is what it is. It’s what I had today. Just gotta be better.”
Snell is 2-3 with a 2.54 ERA in his five starts (28 1/3 innings) since missing four months due to left shoulder inflammation.
The left-hander, who has not faced the Pirates this season, is 1-2 with a 6.86 ERA in five career starts against Pittsburgh.
Dodgers catcher Will Smith was forced to exit the Wednesday game after sustaining a right hand contusion, though X-rays were negative. Smith was hit by a foul ball from Nick Gonzales in the second inning. He was later replaced by Dalton Rushing, who likely would see the bulk of the work behind the plate if Smith is forced to miss any time.