😬⚾ 10 Strikeouts. 1 Earned_Run. Paul Skenes Was Absolutely Dealing. He Still Lost.

The stuff was electric. Four straight changeups to get Dansby Swanson looking, then a 99.4 mph fastball. Paul Skenes had nine strikeouts before the fifth inning was even finished. He was hitting 99 mph in the fifth inning. Twenty swings and misses in 5.1 innings. His sweeper was unhittable.

The Pirates were winning 2-1. That was about to become irrelevant.

The Sixth Inning

Three errors. That was enough. Callihan airmailed a throw to first base. Triolo bounced one past the bag. Skenes tried to barehand a grounder up the middle himself — couldn't get it in time. Three runs scored. One of them was earned.

The box score will show Skenes allowed three runs that inning. It will not show that two of those runs crossed because his teammates couldn't make routine plays behind him.

Eight strikeouts through five innings. Then the sixth happened. Seven runs across the sixth and eighth, only two of them charged to Skenes.

Happ's Night

Ian Happ grew up in Pittsburgh. He's now on a 41-game on-base streak at PNC Park. The city where he learned to play baseball watched him deliver a two-run homer off Brandan Bidois in the eighth inning — his second straight game with a home run — that pushed the lead to 5-2 and put the game away.

Three hits on the night. Two RBI. He'd been heating up all series, and the Pirates' bullpen served it to him on a silver plate.

What the Numbers Say

Paul Skenes is a 24-year-old with the best stuff in baseball. He's also on a three-game losing streak for the first time in his professional career. That's not a stuff problem. That's a support problem — and a scheduling problem. The Pirates are 29-28. They're not a bad team. But they're not a team that can afford to waste a start like this.

The Cubs are 31-26. Ian Happ is hitting in a city that knows him. Their playoff probability reflects a team that's been consistently competitive — and one that knows how to make a bad day for a great pitcher count.