Skenes Will Grab Second Win Today Against Giants

Giants vs. Pirates, 12:35 ET

I think about this quite a bit – there are 30 baseball teams, which means on most days we get 15 games. I send up writing about the same teams somewhat frequently for a variety of reasons. I’ve talked about both of these teams in the past few days, but now they square off against each other and that brings new intrigue. Today the Giants and Pirates square off and this is the second game of the series that I’ll be playing. 

The Giants are one of those teams that can be a little hard to predict. They have great stretches of baseball then terrible stretches of baseball. The problem is that it can be hard to tell exactly when which streak or stretch will happen. So why do I bet on them with so many other options? Because I think I have a decent read on them right now. If I don’t, I’ll probably end up avoiding them for a while. The Giants don’t really do anything great this season. Their hitting is very respectable with an average hovering around .250, but it doesn’t result in a ton of runs. Their On Base and Slugging percentages are average. The pitching staff is what has driven the Giants over the past few years and I thought it would remain that way as the team signed Blake Snell this year. They send out Mason Black to the hill today. Black has allowed 10 earned runs over 11.2 innings this season. He has only made one road start this year and he allowed five earned runs over 4.1 innings. Never facing the Pirates, he could have an advantage, but he has allowed teams to hit .296 against him the first time through the order. 

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - MAY 14: during the MLB baseball game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants on May 14, 2024 at Oracle Park in San Francisco, CA.  (Photo by Bob Kupbens/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The Pirates are also a bit of a tough team to judge at this point in the season. They are looking toward the future, but still trying to remain relevant right now. Pittsburgh does have pieces to potentially make a run this year, but they are likely a year or two away from really making an impact. I think that the hitting is lacking – the highest batting average on their team is .280 right now. The most homers on the team is just seven. These are acceptable right now, but they leave a lot to be desired over the course of the season. Today they send out Paul Skenes to the hill. Skenes is the Pirates present and future. He has been about as good as advertised through two starts. Both of the starts came against the Cubs so he will get a look at a different team for the first time. He struck out 11 Cubs in 18 outs recorded while not allowing a hit. He had to be removed from the game because he had thrown 100 pitches. The Giants are about middle of the pack when it comes to striking out, but dealing with 100 mph every inning is not easy. 

This is a game that the Pirates will win. Skenes will record his second victory of his career and I think that’s probably the best bet here. Skenes to record a win requires two things – he has to pitch five innings and the Pirates need to lead when he leaves the game. I am more nervous about the first one because of his pitch count in the last game. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Giants go under 3.5 team runs, and that is certainly worth a sprinkle. 

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