Current:Home > InvestPaul Skenes blew away Shohei Ohtani in their first meeting. The two-time MVP got revenge. -TruePath Finance
Paul Skenes blew away Shohei Ohtani in their first meeting. The two-time MVP got revenge.
View
Date:2025-04-27 14:57:31
Paul Skenes and Shohei Ohtani exchanged greetings on the baseball field in a manner befitting the hardest-throwing phenom and the greatest two-way talent in the game.
Skenes, the Pittsburgh Pirates rookie making his fifth career start, blew away Ohtani on three pitches — 101.3, 100.1 and 100.8 mph — that the Los Angeles Dodgers star swung and whiffed at in their first encounter Wednesday night at PNC Park.
But the two-time MVP didn't need more than two tries to welcome Skenes to the big leagues.
Ohtani turned around a 100-mph fastball in the third inning, sending it 415 feet and over the fence in straightaway center field for his 15th home run, showing the rookie that it's not so easy to slip pure heat by the Dodgers DH.
Yet it's one of a precious few mistakes Skenes made in Wednesday's 10-6 triumph, as he picked up his third win in five outings, striking out eight Dodgers in five innings.
Follow every MLB game: Latest MLB scores, stats, schedules and standings.
Oh, Ohtani got him again, singling to right in the fifth to put two runners on in a 7-3 game. But Ohtani's single was sandwiched by Skenes punchouts against the other MVPs in L.A.'s lineup. He caught Mookie Betts looking on a full-count 100-mph fastball on the outside corner, and Freddie Freeman on a 0-2 fastball that dotted the bottom of the zone at 99 mph.
After a Will Smith single loaded the bases, Skenes induced a groundout from Teoscar Hernandez and exited with a 7-3 lead. The Pirates went on to claim their second consecutive win over the NL West-leading Dodgers.
Skenes is still less than a year removed from the Pirates selecting him No. 1 overall from LSU, yet his resume remains nearly spotless. He has 38 strikeouts in 27 innings pitched and a 3.00 ERA, and the Pirates are 4-1 in his starts. He walked just one on Wednesday, bringing his strikeout-to-walk ratio to 38-to-6.
Now, add another bullet point to that list: A split decision against the game's greatest talent.
veryGood! (95535)
Related
- Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Triathlon
- A Ukrainian train is a lifeline connecting the nation’s capital with the front line
- Thieves may have stolen radioactive metal from Japan's tsunami-battered Fukushima nuclear power plant
- Horoscopes Today, September 22, 2023
- Could Bill Belichick, Robert Kraft reunite? Maybe in Pro Football Hall of Fame's 2026 class
- 24 of Country Music's Cutest Couples That Are Ultimate Goals
- 'Penalties won us the game': NC State edges Virginia in wild, penalty-filled finish
- Thieves may have stolen radioactive metal from Japan's tsunami-battered Fukushima nuclear power plant
- Toyota to invest $922 million to build a new paint facility at its Kentucky complex
- Unpacking the Child Abuse Case Against YouTube Influencer Ruby Franke
Ranking
- Global Warming Set the Stage for Los Angeles Fires
- 5 dead as train strikes SUV in Florida, sheriff says
- An Iowa man who failed to show up for the guilty verdict at his murder trial has been arrested
- Colombia’s presidential office manipulates video of President Petro at UN to hype applause
- $73.5M beach replenishment project starts in January at Jersey Shore
- California bill to have humans drivers ride in autonomous trucks is vetoed by governor
- Nevada Republicans have set rules for their presidential caucus seen as helping Donald Trump
- Yemen’s southern leader renews calls for separate state at UN
Recommendation
Retirement planning: 3 crucial moves everyone should make before 2025
Pope Francis insists Europe doesn’t have a migrant emergency and challenges countries to open ports
Florida siblings, ages 10 and 11, stopped while driving mom’s car on freeway 200 miles from home
Jan. 6 Capitol rioter Rodney Milstreed, who attacked AP photographer, police officers, sentenced to 5 years in prison
Paula Abdul settles lawsuit with former 'So You Think You Can Dance' co
Alabama finds pulse with Jalen Milroe and shows in Mississippi win it could be dangerous
MILAN FASHION PHOTOS: Naomi Campbell stuns at Dolce&Gabbana in collection highlighting lingerie
Tropical Storm Ophelia tracks up East Coast, downing trees and flooding roads