Paul Skenes Starts Second Straight All-Star Game

A perfect 1-2-3 first inning for America’s Ace

For the second time in as many years, Paul Skenes was the starting pitcher for the National League in the Midsummer Classic.

Last night in Atlanta, Skenes got the start for the NL in the league’s thrilling swing-off win over the AL. Skenes only threw 14 pitches and retired the side in order before handing the ball over to Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Skenes struck out Detroit’s Gleyber Torres and Riley Greene before getting New York Yankee outfielder Aaron Judge to groundout.

Skenes made history as the first pitcher in MLB history to start the All-Star Game in each of his first two seasons. If you want an idea about how dire Skenes’ situation in Pittsburgh is, he got more run support in one inning, 2, than he did in his last three starts for the Pirates.

But even in an All-Star setting, Skenes bullpen left him down. The NL blew a 6-0 lead, but instead of playing extra innings, the game was decided by a home run swing off which was pretty damn exciting if I do say so myself. The two sides picked three players to get three swings each, and whoever had the most home runs won. The NL beat the AL 4-3 thanks in large part to Philadelphia slugger Kyle Schwarber going a perfect 3-3 in the swing off.

Skenes is having another terrific, albeit wasted, season for the Pirates. He leads the NL with a 2.01 ERA, is second in WHIP (0.93) and opposing batting average (.193) and is fourth in strikeouts (131) and despite his Cy Young-caliber season, he’s 4-8.

Get this man out of Pittsburgh and into an organization that is more deserving of his future Hall of Fame ability.