Paul Skenes threw four scoreless innings for the Pittsburgh Pirates against the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday at PNC Park. The outing came on his bobblehead day, drawing a large crowd that queued across the Roberto Clemente Bridge. A rain delay interrupted play with two outs in the bottom of the fourth and the Pirates ahead 4-0.
Fans filled PNC Park early Saturday afternoon, with lines stretching across the Roberto Clemente Bridge into downtown Pittsburgh around 2 p.m. Paul Skenes, in his fifth start of the season, took the mound 90 minutes later amid the special bobblehead promotion, though the timing was coincidental. The 23-year-old right-hander kept the Rays off the scoreboard through four frames on 64 pitches, 43 for strikes, striking out five without a walk. He needed 28 pitches in a shaky second inning but just 25 combined for the third and fourth. Skenes escaped early trouble in the second when Jake Fraley singled, Cedric Mullins reached on catcher's interference, and Richie Palacios singled; a runner's interference call helped, followed by strikeouts of Taylor Walls and a groundout by Chandler Simpson. The Pirates built their lead in the bottom of the first when Bryan Reynolds walked and Ryan O’Hearn hit a two-run homer to right field. Two innings later, Marcell Ozuna added a two-run homer, his second of the week. A rain delay lasting nearly two and a half hours struck with two outs in the bottom of the fourth. Skenes did not return after the stop.
