Paul Skenes' strong start, Oneil Cruz's homer off Mason Miller lead the Pirates to another win

Colin Beazley, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Aug 26, 2026

Published in Baseball

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SAN DIEGO — Paul Skenes had his best outing in months. It almost wasn’t enough.

Skenes threw six shutout frames, then Oneil Cruz’s ninth-inning, two-out solo homer off Mason Miller gave the Pirates the run they needed for a 1-0 victory against the San Diego Padres on Tuesday night at Petco Park.

Cruz’s blast was the first homer Miller had allowed all season. Mason Montgomery held on for the save.

A win Wednesday would secure a sweep of the wild-card-holding Padres.

Skenes allowed just three hits and no walks. He struck out four. It was his first scoreless appearance since May 12. It was also the first time he didn’t allow a walk anyone since May 12.

In the 17 starts in between, he pitched to a 5.06 ERA. The Pirates went 4-13 in that span.

While Skenes had a breakthrough night, he failed to get any run support. Padres starter Michael King stranded the bases loaded in the first, then cruised through the next six innings to pitch seven scoreless. He allowed five hits and walked two with seven strikeouts.

After the first inning, no Pirate reached second base against King. The second and fifth innings ended with double plays, while Jake Mangum was caught stealing in the fourth.

Bryan Reynolds doubled in the first inning, advancing Spencer Horwitz to third, but it was the Pirates’ only extra-base hit until Cruz’s homer.

The deadlock lasted until the ninth. With two outs, Miller threw a 98 mph changeup that Cruz swatted into the right field seats.

It was over when …

Montgomery has had some struggles in the outing after throwing multiple frames, and he threw 1 1/3 innings Monday night. But Montgomery faced little issue Tuesday, striking out two and working around a two-out walk.

Montgomery ended it with a strikeout of Jackson Merrill, stranding pinch-runner (and former Pirates farmhand) Jase Bowen on second.

On the mound

Skenes’ outing was extremely encouraging, though it didn’t start that way. Fernando Tatis Jr. led off for the Padres by fouling off two pitches down the middle, then smoked a double on the third pitch, a changeup below the zone.

But Skenes started rolling from there. He struck out Jake Cronenworth before inducing consecutive pop-ups to end the first. He retired nine in a row after Xander Bogaerts’ leadoff single in the third.

His fastball averaged 97.2 mph, while his sinker averaged 96.8 mph. His velocity was a tick up across the board. His hardest pitch of the night was a 98.6 mph sinker that struck out Luis Campusano in the second.

Gregory Soto and Camilo Doval pitched scoreless frames in relief of Skenes, who threw 87 pitches, before Montgomery shut the door.

At the plate

It was another punchless night from the offense until the end. King was dominant, taking advantage of well-timed grounders and a few strikeouts.

Brandon Lowe went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts.

Bucs bites

• Prior to the game, the Pirates recalled right-hander Noah Murdock from Triple-A Indianapolis and optioned right-hander Khristian Curtis.

The Pirates evidently wanted to keep Curtis in the majors, as shown by rostering him Monday even as he was unavailable to pitch. But in need of a fresh arm after Monday’s 12-inning win, Curtis was the one to go.

Up next

The Pirates will face the Padres in the series finale on Wednesday afternoon at 4:10 p.m. Bubba Chandler (6-8, 4.38) will start for the Pirates, while the Padres have not yet announced their starter. The game will be televised on SportsNet Pittsburgh and broadcast on the radio on 93.7 The Fan.