Paul Skenes Gives Up Huge Home Run To Shohei Ohtani, Still Beats Dodgers

The much vaunted offense of the Los Angeles Dodgers has been struggling in the past few weeks, making a matchup with Pittsburgh Pirates phenom Paul Skenes that much more intriguing.

Skenes has been mostly unhittable his first few starts in the big leagues, with a 2.45 ERA and over 12 strikeouts per nine innings. His start against the Chicago Cubs on May 17th was one of the most impressive by anyone in Major League Baseball all season. Six innings, no hits allowed, 11 strikeouts, including seven in a row to start the game.

READ: Paul Skenes Throws Six No-Hit Innings In Second Start, Strikes Out Seven Straight

That made Wednesday's game against the Dodgers must-see TV, and while Skenes got the win, it wasn't exactly by way of his now usual dominance.

Skenes did get Shohei Ohtani in the first inning on three straight fastballs, seemingly setting the tone for the start.

But Ohtani came back up with Mookie Betts on second base in the third inning and launched a massive home run to dead center field.

Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes pitches against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the third inning at PNC Park on June 5. Photo: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Paul Skenes Labors Through Five Innings, Still Gets The Win

Skenes then had an adventurous fifth inning. He started by allowing another homer to Dodgers rookie Andy Pages, then Chris Taylor reached on an error. Mookie Betts worked the count full, then was called out on a pitch well outside the strike zone after Skenes showed his displeasure with a correctly called ball the pitch before.

It's good to be the new face of MLB every once in a while.

Ohtani then laced a 107.8 mph single, meaning the beneficial call kept the bases from being loaded with none out for Freddie Freeman. Freeman was called out on another questionable strike three, before Will Smith put another hard-hit single into right field to load the bases. Skenes then got Teoscar Hernandez to ground out to end the inning, before being removed for the sixth inning.

All told, he went five innings, allowing six hits and one walk to go along with eight strikeouts and three runs on two homers. While the matchup between Skenes and Ohtani delivered, had the call on Betts gone the other way, his final line could have looked much worse.

The Pirates though, backed him up with 10 runs thanks to some fortunately placed hits and a 6-for-11 performance with runners in scoring position. And as has been common this season against the Dodgers, several relievers including Aroldis Chapman, were throwing well above their average velocities to close out a 10-6 win.

Not his best work, but that's what elite pitchers like Skenes, are able to do; win games when they don't have their best stuff. For Skenes to do it against a talented offensive team shows why fans and the Pirates are so excited about his future. Though based on what he's done in his first five starts, he may already be an ace.