The Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Miami Marlins 3-2 last night in the opening game of a three-game series at PNC Park. Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes struck out nine batters over six innings, and set the franchise record for a rookie with 151. He became just the fourth rookie to reach 150 strikeouts in 20 starts or less in MLB history, joining Kerry Wood, Dwight Gooden and Mark Prior. He broke the Pirates record set by Cy Blanton in 1935.
Skenes allowed one earned run while lowering his ERA to 2.10. He is now 10-2 this season.
Oneil Cruz hit his 19th home run of the season in the game. It was his first home since August 9th and just his second since July 28th. Despite the lack of power over the past six weeks, Cruz did hit .389 for the month of August.
The Bucs and Marlins play again tonight at 6:40pm.