Last Night in Baseball: Paul Skenes actually got some run support for once

Fox Sports

4 days ago

There is always baseball happening — almost too much baseball for one person to handle themselves.
That's why we're here to help, though, by sifting through the previous days' games, and figuring out what you missed, but shouldn't have. Here are all the best moments from last night in Major League Baseball: Pirates finally support Skenes (when he doesn't need it)
Pirates' ace Paul Skenes has a 2.15 ERA for the season, but his win-loss record is 4-5, and Pittsburgh is just 5-7 in his 12 starts. The worst example of this problem came two appearances ago, when Skenes threw eight innings of one-run ball against the powerful Phillies' lineup, and still took the L.
Pittsburgh remembered that it's legal to give him some run support on Wednesday, however, with the Pirates crushing the Diamondbacks, 10-1. Skenes did his part, too, going 6.2 innings without giving up a walk or a run, scattering four hits while striking out seven batters.
The Pirates' bats rarely come through for their ace, but they plated 10 runs for just the second time in 57 games this season – the other occurrence was also in support of Skenes. Maybe the Pirates might want to spread those out a little for their ace next time? You know, stop with the feast or famine thing, help him win some of those other starts where he gives up one or two runs? Listen we're just trying to be helpful, and frankly the Pirates could use the assist. Judge is intentionally walked, twice
Aaron Judge is a supremely dangerous hitter, and there's no shame in admitting as much when facing him down. The man is hitting .391/.488/.739, each slash leading the league and serving as career-highs for the Yankees' outfielder, too. That's why Angels' manager Ron Washington signaled for the intentional walk not once, but twice in two trips to the plate on Wednesday. At least this way, Judge only gets the one base.
It mostly worked, too, since Judge didn't come around to score in the contest, but the problem is that none of the Angels' batters did, either. So the one run the Yankees did put on the board without Judge's assistance was enough to secure the dub and the sweep.
That gives the Yankees five wins in a row, 16 victories in their last 20 games, and a seven-game lead in the AL East. Guardians 5-run 8th topples Dodgers
The Dodgers rolled over the Guardians in the first two games of the series, 7-2 and 9-5, but it was Cleveland putting the hurt on in the finale. They were down 4-2 in the eighth inning, making it look like they were on their way to being swept by the defending champions and current NL West leaders, but then the bats woke up.
Jhonkensy Noel kicked things off with a single, and Will Wilson followed with his own. Daniel Schneemann walked, loading the bases, then, after Austin Hedges struck out, Nolan Joneswould single to left, scoring both Big Christmas and Wilson to tie the game 4-4.
Alex Vesia would come in from the Dodgers' bullpen in relief of Tanner Scott, but it simply made things worse: Angel Martinez would hit a three-run homer, clearing the bases and giving us our final score out of Cleveland: 7-4.
With the Tigers winning yet again, this was a significant comeback for the Guardians – they're already six games back of Detroit as is, and with the Tigers showing no real signs of slowing down since they started succeeding last August, losing any more ground this early in the year will be a problem later. Brewers walk it off in the 10th inning to beat Red Sox
Déjà vu struck in Milwaukee as the Brewers captured their second 10th inning victory in as many nights. It came in notable fashion again, too, as one night after Christian Yelich hit his first-career walk-off home run, rookie Caleb Durbin had his first-career walk-off of any kind.
While it wasn't as exhilarating as a final-say grand slam, it counts the same in the standings. With Sal Frelick on third base, Durbin hit a ball high into the sky, forcing Boston's center fielder Ceddanne Raffaela to track back just far enough that his throw to the plate was a tad late. Frelick slid in head first, ensuring the Brewers' victory and Durbin's heroism.
The Brewers have now won four in a row, while the Red Sox have dropped five straight. They sit in fourth place in the AL East, 9.5 behind the Yankees, and 4.5 back of a wild card spot. If this baseball thing doesn't work out…
What do you think Pete Crow-Armstrong's handicap in golf is? It seems like he's got a pretty natural swing, if this home run from Wednesday against Rockies' starter Tanner Gordon is any indication.
Because of the angle and the velocity of the pitch, it didn't come off the bat all that fast — just under 104 mph, per Statcast — but it went exceptionally high, at 113 feet at its apex, and landed 26 feet past the wall in right field. It ended up being the game winner for Chicago, as they defeated the Rockies 2-1, giving the Cubs the sweep. Crow-Armstrong is now up to .275/.303/.563 with 15 homers on the season, and ranks fourth among Cubs' regulars in OPS+ at 142. Their lineup has been something else, if that tidbit didn't alert you to as much on its own.
Colorado, meanwhile, had their run differential drop to -175 for the season thanks to the defeat. Fun fact: the 2022 Rockies, who lost 94 games, had an end-of-season run differential of -175. The 2025 Rockies' run differential would have ranked fourth-worst in MLB in 2024 at the end of the year. Colorado has been outscored by a combined 833 runs since the beginning of the 2022 season, a stretch of 542 games. They're now 9-47 in 2025, or, the holders of the worst start through 56 games in modern MLB history (1901-present).
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