Pirates blank Rockies as Paul Skenes takes another step closer to Cy Young award

Noah Hiles, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Aug 24, 2025

Published in Baseball

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

PITTSBURGH — Sunday afternoon was just another day for Paul Skenes, which perhaps tells the story on its own.

He threw seven shutout innings, allowing just four hits along the way. He struck out seven batters, three of them coming in his final frame of work. He made the Colorado Rockies, the worst team in baseball, look like ... well, the worst team in baseball. And most importantly for the Pirates, he paved the way for a 4-0 victory at PNC Park.

The simplicity of Skenes' dominance was difficult to ignore. As we've seen many times over the past two seasons, everything looked easy for the right-hander. The Rockies never truly developed a scoring chance while he was on the mound. Heck, not a single Colorado base runner advanced past second.

Some early run support allowed Skenes to be the game's winning pitcher, a bit more of a rarity for him in 2025. The victory lifted his record to 8-9, a mark that still sits as the lone blemish on his overall body of work this year — one that will likely earn him some hardware.

Earlier this week, it was announced that Phillies right-hander Zach Wheeler would undergo season-ending thoracic outlet surgery. Wheeler, who finished second in last year's National League Cy Young voting, looked to be Skenes' main competition for the award this time around.

With the Phillies' ace no longer in the picture, Skenes seems to be well on his way to the honor. He would be the third Pirate to do so, the first since Doug Drabek in 1990. Vern Law was the other (1960).

All awards are announced after the season concludes. Until then, Skenes will remain focused on helping the Pirates finish strong, hoping it will set the club up for better things in 2026. Pittsburgh's win Sunday secured a series sweep over the Rockies. The sweep marked No. 6 on the season for Don Kelly's club.

It was over when ...

Jared Triolo put the Pirates ahead for good with a three-run homer in the bottom of the fourth inning. The blast was surrendered by Rockies rookie McCade Brown, who was the game's losing pitcher in his MLB debut.

On the mound

Isaac Mattson replaced Skenes to start the eighth inning, throwing a scoreless frame. The outing dropped the right-hander's ERA to 2.12 on the season. Dennis Santana then finished things off in the ninth, throwing a scoreless inning to secure the Pirates' 16th shutout win in 2025, the most of any club in MLB.

At the plate

Triolo's homer was his second in as many days and his fifth overall this year. The ball traveled 412 feet to left-center field at an exit velocity of 100.6 mph. Triolo now has six multi-hit games this month, two of them coming this weekend against the Rockies.

Isiah Kiner-Falefa added an additional run to Pittsburgh's line in the fourth, doubling home Henry Davis, who reached the at-bat prior on a walk. That four-run burst in the fourth inning was all the Pirates needed to secure a win.

Most valuable player

Skenes. No further explanation should be needed.

Up next

The Pirates head to St. Louis for the start of a four-game series at Busch Stadium. First pitch for Monday's game is set for 7:45 p.m. ET.

____