The Pittsburgh Pirates opened their four-game series with the Washington Nationals with a 16-5 victory last night at PNC Park. Paul Skenes allowed one hit over six innings and second baseman Brandon Lowe homered for the third time in two games. Skenes allowed an opening-inning home run. He walked one and struck out six. He improved to 3-1 this season. Skenes is now 7-1 in his last 11 starts at PNC Park.
The Bucs have now scored 38 runs in Skenes four starts this season – after totaling 37 runs in his first 11 outings in 2025.
Lowe had three hits and drove in five runs. Bryan Reynolds added three hits and drove in four. The Pirates had 16 hits in the game and went 9-for-19 with runners in scoring position. They scored 10 runs in the sixth inning of the game.
Brandon Lowe has become the first Pirate since RBI’s became a stat in 1920, to have back-to-back games with at least five RBI’s.
The Bucs and Nationals play again tonight at 6:40pm. Mitch Keller will start for the Pirates, who are now 10-6 overall and continue to have the second-best record in baseball. (Behind the 12-4 Los Angeles Dodgers.)
Fansided has jumped the Pirates to #3 this week in their power rankings, behind the Dodgers and Atlanta Braves. The Bucs were #20 the week before.
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