<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/new-york-yankees/yankees-rumors-new-york-interest-paul-skenes-trade-deadline');   ga('set', 'title', 'Yankees rumors: New York had interest in Paul Skenes before trade deadline');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Pittsburgh-Pirates-starting-pitcher-Paul-Skenes-3.jpg"><figcaption>Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Yankees rumors: New York had interest in Paul Skenes before trade deadline</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-09-12T12:29:56-07:00">September 12th, 12:29pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-09-12T12:29:56-07:00">September 12th, 12:29pm</time><address><a>Zachary Howell</a>Zachary Howell is an Associate Editor at ClutchPoints focusing on creating premier MLB content. He is a big fan of the Yankees, Oklahoma City Thunder and the Syracuse Orange. In his free time, he likes to be outside or read.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">MLB</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The New York Yankees are fighting for their playoff lives as the regular season winds down. Earlier this season, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/mlb-stories/grading-camilo-doval-yankees-giants-trade">Brian Cashman made some moves at the trade deadline</a>. While he addressed weak points he did not give Yankees manager Aaron Boone a starting pitcher. However, the team kicked the tires on Pittsburgh Pirates All-Star Paul Skenes, offering top prospect Spencer Jones.</p><p>Skenes and the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/pittsburgh-pirates/pirates-news-pittsburgh-fires-derek-shelton-after-12-26-start">Pirates had a rough 2025 season, firing their manager</a> after a terrible start. As time went on and things did not take a turn for the better, all eyes turned towards the trade deadline. Some experts thought that Pittsburgh would decide to blow things up and trade away veterans for future assets. The Pirates did move on from David Bednar and Ke’Bryan Hayes in July.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/pittsburgh-pirates/pirates-news-stern-answer-inquiring-paul-skenes-trade">Trade rumors concerning Skenes</a> flew around for months. However, the All-Star starter and his organization shot down the rumors. However, that did not stop the Yankees from <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/09/11/sports/yankees-paul-skenes-check-in-unrelated-to-livvy-dunnes-nyc-apartment-search/" rel="noopener">checking in on him</a> ahead of the trade deadline. According to New York Post reporter Jon Heyman, New York offered up names like Jones and top-ranked prospect George Lombard for the pitcher.</p><p>At the end of the day, the Pirates did not pursue any trade talks involving Skenes with any kind of sincerity. Pittsburgh is a smaller market compared to New York. However, the organization has made it known that it intends to give its leader a long-term deal as soon as possible. Unfortunately for the Yankees, the opportunity to bring Skenes in via trade has already passed them by.</p><p>For now, New York has to make do with the pitchers it has in the starting rotation. Getting Gerrit Cole and potentially another starter in the offseason will help a lot in 2026. However, some fans can’t help but think about what-ifs. The Yankees could be the favorites to win a title if a deal swapping Jones and other prospects for Skenes had happened earlier in the summer.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Yankees rumors: New York had interest in Paul Skenes before trade deadline

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/pittsburgh-pirates/pirates-news-paul-skenes-pitching-gem-assessment');   ga('set', 'title', 'Pirates star Paul Skenes’ latest pitching gem draws honest assessment from ex-player');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Pirates-news-Why-Paul-Skenes-couldnt-pass-up-World-Baseball-Classic-honor.jpg"><figcaption>Brad Penner-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Pirates star Paul Skenes’ latest pitching gem draws honest assessment from ex-player</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-09-11T07:28:07-07:00">September 11th, 7:28am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-09-11T07:28:07-07:00">September 11th, 7:28am</time><address><a href="https://www.facebook.com/joey.mistretta/" rel="facebook">Joey Mistretta</a>Joey Mistretta is a Dallas Mavericks beat reporter, Dallas Wings beat reporter and lead MLB editor for ClutchPoints. He is originally from Lake Arrowhead, California. Mistretta graduated from Biola University with a degree in broadcast journalism.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">MLB</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Pittsburgh Pirates lost to the Baltimore Orioles by a final score of 2-1 on Wednesday. Nevertheless, Paul Skenes pitched well once again. The right-handed hurler struck out eight Orioles over five scoreless innings while allowing no walks. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/pittsburgh-pirates/pirates-news-pittsburgh-manager-explains-paul-skenes-escapes-trouble">Skenes is in the middle of a tremendous season</a> to say the least.</p><p>Former MLB player Xavier Scruggs <a href="https://x.com/MLBNetworkRadio/status/1966139124022182080" rel="noopener">addressed</a> Skenes’ performance following Wednesday’s game, via MLB Network Radio.</p><p>“Just the dominance that we’ve seen with Paul Skenes, reaching now 200 strikeouts,” Scruggs said. “Only eight Pirates players in history, starters, have reached 200 strikeouts. I think to see that in his second full season just reminds us of the dominance, but also the understanding of what he’s doing from a pitching standpoint. The sequencing, the tunneling of his stuff, the adding of pitches, the ability to command the strike zone with such high velocity.”</p><p>Paul Skenes has established himself as a true National League Cy Young candidate. The 23-year-old has pitched to a league leading 1.92 ERA across 30 starts. Skenes also leads the league with 203 strikeouts.</p><p>After winning the Rookie of the Year and finishing third in NL Cy Young voting a season ago, Skenes seems like a legitimate candidate to win the Cy Young this year.</p><p>“I know we talk a lot about his ability, but I think a lot of it, too, is the mental capacity in which… We walked to him early on in spring training about wanting to get incrementally better each start,” Scruggs continued. “I know he didn’t go deep in this one, they’re trying to hold him back a little bit, save some of those bullets. But what we’ve seen from him this season is another example of what the Pirates have to look forward to with arguably the best arm in all of Major League Baseball.”</p><p>The Pirates are out of postseason contention. Pittsburgh is hoping to build a contending roster around Paul Skenes sooner rather than later. At the moment, the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/pittsburgh-pirates/pirates-news-paul-skenes-drops-truth-bomb-after-dodgers-sweep-we-got-nothing-to-lose">Pirates will try to play the role of spoiler</a> against contending ball clubs.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Pirates star Paul Skenes’ latest pitching gem draws honest assessment from ex-player

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/pittsburgh-pirates/pirates-news-paul-skenes-threw-64-pitches-dominant-outing');   ga('set', 'title', 'Why Pirates’ Paul Skenes only threw 64 pitches despite dominant outing');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Pirates-ace-Paul-Skenes-pitches-at-ASG.jpg"><figcaption>Brett Davis-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Why Pirates’ Paul Skenes only threw 64 pitches despite dominant outing</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-09-11T07:26:12-07:00">September 11th, 7:26am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-09-11T07:26:12-07:00">September 11th, 7:26am</time><address><a>Christopher Hennessy</a>Christopher Hennessy is a Senior Editor at ClutchPoints, with expertise in MLB, NHL and golf. Chris graduated with a journalism degree from Fordham University in 2022. He has also worked at Spectrum News One in Albany, New York and with The Hockey Writers as a New York Islanders writer. Chris is originally from Connecticut and is a lifelong New York Yankees, Islanders, and Jets fan.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">MLB</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Pittsburgh Pirates lost to the Baltimore Orioles 2-1 in ten innings on Wednesday night. The Buccos picked up their 82nd loss on the same night their ace put together another dominant outing. But the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/pittsburgh-pirates/pirates-news-paul-skenes-drops-truth-bomb-after-dodgers-sweep-we-got-nothing-to-lose">Pirates had Paul Skenes on a pitch count</a>, stopping him at 64 pitches despite allowing two hits and no runs in five innings. Skenes spoke with Ian Nicholas Quillen of the Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/article/paul-skenes-strikeouts-pirates-orioles-557bd52c847cec94569ce0c122b4d701" rel="noopener">about the pitch count.</a></p><p>“The main goal that I’ve had coming into the past two years is making every start,” Skenes said. “There are opportunities to give and take throughout the season, and tonight was kind of one of those. I probably needed it, to be honest.”</p><p>The Pirates ace continued, “I pitched in September last year, but it was different. Throwing 160 innings with 27 of them in the minors, it’s not the same as throwing 160 innings all in the big leagues.”</p><p>The Pirates limited Skenes’ pitch count last September as well. He threw 73 pitches in his penultimate start and 23 in just two innings in his final start. Now,<a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/pittsburgh-pirates/pirates-news-paul-skenes-pick-nl-cy-young-award"> with the National League Cy Young award on the line</a>, they are limiting his pitches once again. Skenes took his 64 pitches and dominated the Orioles on Wednesday night.</p><p>The Pirates have 16 games left in the season, so Skenes could get four more starts if they keep the rotation in order. He has 22 innings to go until reaching 200 on the season, and already has 200 strikeouts and a sub-2.00 ERA. Even with a limited September, Skenes could put together a jaw-dropping stat line in just his second season.</p><p>The Pirates have been walked-off by the Orioles in both games to start the three-game set. They look to salvage the final game on Thursday afternoon at Camden Yards. Skenes’ next start is slated for Monday at home against the Chicago Cubs.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Why Pirates’ Paul Skenes only threw 64 pitches despite dominant outing

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/pittsburgh-pirates/pirates-news-paul-skenes-drops-truth-bomb-after-dodgers-sweep-we-got-nothing-to-lose');   ga('set', 'title', 'Pirates’ Paul Skenes drops truth bomb after Dodgers sweep: ‘We got nothing to lose’');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Pirates-starting-pitcher-Paul-Skenes-30-walks-in.jpg"><figcaption>© Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Pirates’ Paul Skenes drops truth bomb after Dodgers sweep: ‘We got nothing to lose’</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-09-04T21:17:02-07:00">September 4th, 9:17pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-09-04T21:17:02-07:00">September 4th, 9:17pm</time><address><a href="https://letterboxd.com/splooshpuhrty/films/by/your-rating/">Jedd Pagaduan</a>Jedd Pagaduan is a certified Clippers and Gunners fan, which means he's a very sports-traumatized individual. He now writes about sports instead as a form of therapy.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">MLB</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The 2025 season has long been lost for the Pittsburgh Pirates. But that doesn’t mean that the final stretch of the regular season is meaningless for them. In fact, the Pirates locker room cannot be any more fired up after their recently-concluded three-game set against the reigning World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, as they <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/los-angeles-dodgers/dodgers-news-las-sweep-pirates-concerning-trend">finished off a sweep on Thursday</a> with a 5-3 win.</p><p>The Pirates have been bad all year, but as the old adage goes, it’s not about how you start, it’s how you finish. This Pittsburgh squad is playing with a chip on their shoulder, and with ace Paul Skenes on the mound on Thursday, there was plenty of reasons for them to be confident, especially when they were <a href="https://twitter.com/SNPittsburgh/status/1963790072303501703" rel="noopener">gunning for the sweep</a> in front of their home crowd.</p><p>“We’re playing good baseball. I don’t know what confidence comes from, individually or team-wise. I think, to an extent, it comes from success. We’ve shown ourselves that we can do it. That gives us confidence. We got nothing to lose. It’s time to go. We don’t want to leave anything out there on the field. Just got to keep going,” Skenes told reporters following the Pirates’ win, via SportsNet Pittsburgh.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"We got nothing to lose. It's time to go… We don't want to leave anything out there on the field." 😤</p><p>Paul Skenes is AMPED to finish the season strong 👏 ⚡ <a href="https://t.co/6e7cj1QllJ">pic.twitter.com/6e7cj1QllJ</a></p><p>— SportsNet Pittsburgh (@SNPittsburgh) <a href="https://twitter.com/SNPittsburgh/status/1963790072303501703?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 5, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Since coming out of the All-Star break, the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/los-angeles-dodgers/dodgers-news-fans-ruthlessly-clown-la-after-wild-pirates-sweep">Pirates have been playing winning baseball</a>, having won 25 of their 44 games during that span. And this win over the Dodgers is simply a continuation of the much-improved level of play the whole roster, top to bottom, has displayed over the past month or so.</p><p>“That’s the stuff you enjoy, going for a sweep at home against arguably the best team in baseball. Those are cool opportunities, you can’t take them for granted,” Skenes added.</p><h2><b>Paul Skenes, Pirates are on an upward trajectory</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Pirates-give-stern-answer-to-team-inquiring-about-Paul-Skenes-trade.jpg"><figcaption>Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Much has been made over the past few years of the Pirates ownership’s propensity for cheapening out. But for all the flak they’ve caught, their record of 64-77 following their win over the Dodgers on Thursday could be a lot, lot worse.</p><p>Skenes, in particular, provides so much hope for the Pirates’ future. Every five days, the Pirates have as good of a chance to win as any other team in baseball, with their 23-year-old ace showing no signs of slowing down in his sophomore campaign. After another excellent start on Thursday where he allowed zero runs across 6.0 innings of work while striking out eight, Skenes is now sporting an ERA of 1.98 on the year across 173.0 innings.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Pirates’ Paul Skenes drops truth bomb after Dodgers sweep: ‘We got nothing to lose’

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/pittsburgh-pirates/pirates-paul-skenes-claims-he-would-strike-out-babe-ruth');   ga('set', 'title', 'Pirates’ Paul Skenes claims he would strike out Babe Ruth');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Paul-Skenes_86684c.jpg"></figure><h1>Pirates’ Paul Skenes claims he would strike out Babe Ruth</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-09-04T10:18:31-07:00">September 4th, 10:18am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-09-04T10:18:31-07:00">September 4th, 10:18am</time><address><a>Gerard Angelo Samillano</a>Gerard Angelo Samillano is an Associate Editor for ClutchPoints, with his focus primarily on the NBA, NFL, MLB and NCAA Football. When he's not writing for CP, Gerard can often be seen playing VALORANT or playing pick-up basketball.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">MLB</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Paul Skenes is a force of nature. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/pittsburgh-pirates/pirates-news-paul-skenes-continues-shine-impressive-showing-tigers">The Pittsburgh Pirates ace is currently one of the best</a>, if not the best, pitchers in the MLB now. Skenes’ ability to completely overwhelm batters makes him a devastating threat to every hitting lineup.</p><p>There’s one question that remains to be answered, though: how would Skenes fare against the greatest players of all time. The Pirates ace gets his opponents out on a regular basis, but what would happen if he faced someone like, say, Babe Ruth?</p><p>Well, Skenes himself attempted to answer that question when he went on Mookie Betts’ podcast. The Pirates pitcher said that <a href="https://x.com/BleacherReport/status/1963104732974563678" rel="noopener">he believes he’ll be able to strike out</a> Babe Ruth himself. His solution? Throw something that even hitters today rarely see: his signature “splinker”.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

2025 SEASON STATS
IP	ERA	K	WHIP	WINS
54	2.50	23	1.50	2

2025 SEASON STATS
IP	ERA	K	WHIP	WINS
54	2.50	23	1.50	2

Paul Skenes

Latest Paul Skenes News

Yankees rumors: New York had interest in Paul Skenes before trade deadline

Pirates star Paul Skenes’ latest pitching gem draws honest assessment from ex-player

Why Pirates’ Paul Skenes only threw 64 pitches despite dominant outing

Pirates’ Paul Skenes drops truth bomb after Dodgers sweep: ‘We got nothing to lose’

Pirates’ Paul Skenes claims he would strike out Babe Ruth

Paul
Skenes