Pirates lose 7th consecutive Paul Skenes start on controversial ending in Colorado

Colin Beazley, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Jun 21, 2026

Published in Baseball

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DENVER — Suddenly, Paul Skenes can’t find a win.

The Pittsburgh Pirates lost their seventh consecutive Skenes start, falling 2-1 to the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field on Saturday night despite six innings of two-run ball from Skenes.

Skenes took the loss, falling to 6-7. The Pirates, in danger of a sweep by the majors-worst Rockies, are once again under .500 (38-39).

The game ended with controversy as, for the second consecutive night, the Pirates had a chance in the ninth. They loaded the bases on Brandon Lowe’s leadoff double, a Bryan Reynolds infield single and Nick Gonzales’ one-out hit by pitch, but Tyler Callihan struck out. Jake Mangum looked to have beaten out an infield single to tie the game, but Billy Cook, running for Reynolds, was ruled to have interfered with the ball and called out.

Manager Don Kelly was furious and sprinted out to argue, but the call stood.

Skenes struck out eight in six innings, throwing 104 pitches. His command wasn’t particularly sharp, walking two and hitting two others, but he still allowed just two runs in the most hitter-friendly ballpark in the majors.

Saturday’s game started with some excitement. Spencer Horwitz launched a leadoff homer off of Rockies starter Tomoyuki Sugano, then Rockies outfielder Jake McCarthy answered Horwitz with a leadoff home run off his own. The difference was McCarthy’s came inside-the-park, as Jake Mangum dove and couldn’t come up with a sinking liner and Tyler Callihan slipped while throwing it in from the center-field wall.

It was McCarthy again for the second run. He had a hustle double with one out in the third, getting to second before Mangum could throw in his grounder through the infield, then scored on TJ Rumfield’s two-out single.

Skenes’ command eluded him to start the fourth, walking the first batter and hitting another, but he got a double play to end the frame. He then struck out four of the final seven batters he faced to finish six.

The issue was the Pirates’ bats had no answers for Sugano. Horwitz singled to start the third, then Sugano retired the final 12 batters he faced. Jimmy Herget came in for the seventh, walked Callihan, but faced four batters and got four outs as Mangum grounded into a double play.

It was over when …

The umpires made their call. For mere seconds, the Pirates looked to have tied it. Instead, they lost their third game of the six-game West Coast trip.

On the mound

The Pirates did make a slight pivot in their pitching strategy, as it was Carmen Mlodzinski who came in to relieve Skenes. Mlodzinski, making his fourth true relief appearance of the season and first not piggybacking Jared Jones, threw two scoreless innings with one hit, one walk and two strikeouts.

Mlodzinski was what the Pirates have been lacking, a right-hander who can keep a game close. And, by throwing 32 pitches, he should be available for the start of the Pirates’ series against the Seattle Mariners starting Tuesday.

At the plate

Sugano was the second consecutive Rockies starter to retire 12 or more Pirates in a row after Kyle Freeland cruised on Friday. In six innings, Sugano allowed four hits (three in the first seven batters), didn’t walk anyone and struck out five.

The Pirates didn’t have a hit after the third inning until the ninth.

Reynolds started in left field, a good sign after being scratched with left groin tightness on Friday. Still, the Pirates are certainly missing his sidelined teammates Oneil Cruz and Konnor Griffin.

Bucs Bites

— Kelly provided some injury updates pregame. Griffin (right forearm strain), down in Florida, was scheduled to take grounders and throw to bases on Saturday, though Kelly said he hadn’t yet received a report. He did say Griffin’s arm strength has been in a good spot — he’s been clocked at 89 mph throwing from shortstop, while he topped out in competition around 93 mph.

— Right-hander Wilber Dotel (right lat strain) threw in the outfield before Saturday’s game. Kelly described initial reports on Dotel as “really encouraging.”

— Reynolds had a few tests to clear pregame before the Pirates decided whether he’d start. Evidently, Reynolds passed those tests.

Up next

The Pirates will look to avoid a sweep on Sunday afternoon with Jared Jones (1-1, 6.23 ERA) on the mound. He'll face Rockies right-hander Michael Lorenzen (2-8, 7.13), with first pitch scheduled for 3:10 p.m. ET.

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