TAIWAN STUDS:
Taiwanese-American outfielder Carroll launched a homer in the big leagues, while WBC stars Fairchild and Cheng, along with Long hit big in the minors
Oneil Cruz on Wednesday had a three-run homer, his third in two games, and Paul Skenes allowed just one run in five innings and struck out five as the Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Cincinnati Reds 8-3 to take the three-game series.
Skenes quickly shrugged off the shortest start of his dominant major league career, after he last week allowed five runs, tying a career high, with two walks and a strikeout in an 11-7 loss to the New York Mets.
Pirates fans should not worry after the reigning National League Cy Young winner returned to form on Wednesday.
Photo: AFP
“I’m pretty insulated from a lot of stuff that’s out there. The stuff that I do see or hear, I don’t really care anyway because it doesn’t have anything to do with the play. I’m just thinking about getting back to execution and executing my pitches,” Skenes said. “Nothing matters except for the game and the pitches.”
Skenes walked Cincinnati’s T.J. Friedl, then retired eight straight, including three strikeouts. He walked Friedl twice in three innings before Elly De La Cruz singled for the Reds’ first hit. Two batters later, Nathaniel Lowe doubled in De La Cruz, ending Skenes’ 31-inning scoreless streak against Cincinnati.
Skenes’ scoreless run was the fourth-longest by a Pirates pitcher against an opponent since 1961. Vernon Law holds the mark, blanking the Mets for 40 innings from 1965 to 1966.
Photo: AFP
The right-hander retired four of the past five batters he faced and departed after throwing 77 pitches, including 51 strikes.
“Definitely progress. Nice to get some volume and be out there for more than two-thirds,” said Skenes, who improved to 5-0 with a 0.53 ERA in six career starts against the Reds.
He has 45 strikeouts and only four walks while holding Cincinnati to a .197 batting average.
Further helping Skenes, the Pirates gave strong run support, scoring three in the first on Cruz’s homer to right.
“With Skenes on the mound, you hate to give them anything early because you know you’re going to have to fight to get anything you can get,” Reds manager Terry Francona said.
Manager Don Kelly said he wanted to avoid overworking Skenes early, especially after his 37-pitch, two-thirds-inning start in the Mets’ opening day win on Thursday last week.
“When you’re going off one outing and 37 pitches, we had targeted 80 for him,” Kelly said. “It was something that we need Paul for the long haul, and he did a great job getting through five. As we go, he’s going to be throwing more than five [innings] and 77 [pitches].”
Taiwanese-American outfielder Corbin Carroll became the sixth left-handed hitter to homer off Tarik Skubal, driving a 97mph (156kph) fastball over the fence in left-center for his second homer of the season in the Arizona Diamondbacks 1-0 victory to complete a three-game sweep of the Detroit Tigers.
He was not the only Taiwanese-American to hit hard in the US on Wednesday. Stuart Fairchild, who hit the two-run go-ahead homer for Taiwan in their victory over South Korea at the World Baseball Classic (WBC), homered twice for Cleveland Guardians Triple-A affiliate the Columbus Clippers.
The runs helped the Clippers defeat the Indiana Indians 6-1.
Meanwhile, fellow WBC star and former Pirates’ shortstop Cheng Tsung-che homered for the Worcester Red Sox, his first for the Boston Red Sox Triple-A affiliate, in their 5-4 win over the St Paul Saints.
Jonathon Long of the Iowa Cubs, the Chicago Cubs Triple-A affiliate, hit a grand slam over center field in the second inning as part of their 12-7 domination of the Louisville Bats.
It was the first homer of the season for Long, who was set to play for Taiwan at the WBC, but withdrew due to an elbow injury.
In Maryland, Samuel Basallo made a little history when the Baltimore Orioles catcher became the first major leaguer to end a game with a successful challenge via the Automated Ball-Strike System.
No word on whether he got to keep the ball.
Albert Suarez was on the mound for the Orioles in the top of the ninth inning against the Texas Rangers when his 1-2 pitch to Evan Carter with two outs was called a ball by plate umpire Manny Gonzalez. Basallo challenged, the replay showed most of the ball catching the upper outside corner of the strike zone, and Baltimore’s 8-3 win was in the books.
“I think we had two [challenges left] at that point,” the 21-year-old Basallo said through a translator. “I thought why not use it? Better to use it and see what happens instead of holding onto it.”
Basallo, who also hit a 437-foot (133m) homer on Wednesday, used a little body English while the replay was in progress, then headed toward the mound for a hug with Suarez, who pitched three innings for his first save since 2017.
“I wasn’t thinking it was a strike, and then when he challenged I was like: ‘OK, let’s see,’” Suarez said. “Good thing we got it.”
The 36-year-old Suarez was asked his view on the system in general.
“I think I like it more after what happened today,” Suarez said.
Elsewhere, the Miami Marlins soaked the Chicago White Sox 10-0, the Atlanta Braves beat the Athletics 5-1, the Colorado Rockies survived the Toronto Blue Jays 2-1 in 10 innings and the St Louis Cardinals pipped the Mets in 11 innings.
The Cubs downed the Los Angeles Angels 6-2, the Kansas City Royals dominated the Minnesota Twins 13-1, the Houston Astros defeated the Red Sox 6-4 and the Philadelphia Phillies needed 10 innings to take out the Washington Nationals 6-5.
The Milwaukee Brewers topped the Tampa Bay Rays 8-2, the Guardian outplayed the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-1, the New York Yankees sank the Seattle Mariners 5-3 and the San Diego Padres dropped the San Francisco Giants 7-1.
Additional reporting by staff writer