Hands down, no debate. That was the wackiest, craziest, longest, WEIRDEST Pittsburgh Pirates game I have ever been to. It was a notable and memorable night for many reasons, but I tried to narrow it down to five:
- Paul Skenes’ MLB debut (duh)
- Pirates walk in six runs for Cubs
- Fans chant “Fire Shelton”
- The Pirates score a season-high 10 runs
- Five home runs for the Bucs
Pregame and the opening innings was the most electric I have ever seen a PNC Park crowd since the playoff games of 2013 through 2015, but being in-person for this one I can confidently say this was the most amped up crowd I had ever personally been a part of.
The debut of 2023 first overall pick Paul Skenes 30,000+ fans attending as the Pirates took the field for the top of the first. Skenes struck out his first two batters, and after walking his third opponent, secured a flyout to end the inning.
The Pirates, despite having 10 runs in this affair, got off to their typical slow start.
In the top of the second inning, Skenes got into some trouble early, after hitting a batter, walking another, and then allowing a single. It didn’t rattle him at all, however, and after a quick mound visit he locked things back down, earning his third punch out and getting a groundout (thanks to a beautiful defensive play from Nick Gonzales) for the third one.
Skenes added a fourth strikeout in the top of the third before the Pirates really did some damage. Michael A. Taylor and Andrew McCutchen notched singles, eventually being driven home by a three-run blast courtesy of Connor Joe.
That was Joe’s fourth of the year and gave the Pirates a 3-0 lead.
Oneil Cruz then lifted a solo shot to add to the lead.
The teams traded homers after that; Nico Hoerner hit a solo shot off Skenes in the fourth before Michael A. Taylor responded for his first home run as a Bucco to make it a 6-1 ballgame.
In the fifth inning, however, the vibes went from good to agony in a hurry. Skenes had gotten into a bit of a jam again, getting runners on first and second with nobody out. With his pitch count approaching 90, Pirates manager Derek Shelton decided to pull the trigger and take Skenes out of the game.
The decision was not well taken by fans, but they did salute Skenes’ 7 strikeouts as he walked off the field.
In his place came reliever Kyle Nicolas, who did strike out the first two batters he faced. But no one remembers that, we all just remember the disaster that took place afterwards – and rightfully so.
Nicolas plunked a batter to load the bases, then walked another to walk in a run for the Cubs. 6-2.
Then he did it again. 6-3.
And then AGAIN.
Nicolas walked in three straight runs, the latter two came under a chorus of boos by a PNC Park that had turned from joyous to enraged in a matter of minutes.
After the third walked in run, Shelton finally got back up out of the dugout to take Nicolas out of there. The booing only seemed to escalate as a dejected Nicolas walked off to the dugout. Shelton called upon Josh Fleming to finish out the fifth inning for the Bucs.
Remember, the team only needed one out to get out of this inning. Instead, Fleming walked another batter as rain began to fall from what was once a beautiful sky. 6-5.
The rain competed with the boos in intensity as Fleming allowed a single, and suddenly a 6-1 blowout had become a tie game for Chicago after the Cubs were able to walk in four runs and score a fifth.
The rain forced a nearly two hour delay after that game-tying walk, leaving fans with an awfully bitter taste in their mouth.
Skenes was charged with 3 runs (the homer and two runners he left on base) but he likely would not have been dinged those if Nicolas could find the strike zone.
Over the course of the delay, a majority of the fans left. I don’t blame them one bit; the marquee guy they had all come to see was already done, and after the Pirates walked in FIVE runs, who wanted to see any more of that?
But oh buddy, if you stayed that whole time (which I did), this team had a unique way of making you regret that choice in a hurry. Coming out of the rain delay, the Pirates swapped out Fleming for Colin Holderman, who stepped out to face the same situation that had haunted Nicolas and Fleming.
Holderman didn’t have the answers. He walked a batter to give the Cubs the lead, and then did it again to give Chicago an 8-6 curtain. Only after pinch-hitter Nick Madrigal watched five walks in the fifth inning and had the genius idea to swing the bat did the Pirates finally get out of the inning from hell.
After that, a comeback from the Pirates seemed nearly impossible, but the bats weren’t going quietly into what was now-night. Oneil Cruz hit a double and then with two outs, Nick Gonzales grinded out a walk, which set up Yasmani Grandal for a no-doubter over the Clemente wall to give the Pirates the lead back.
For Grandal, it was his first as a Pirate and a much needed bounce back after his home plate gaffe last night.
Holderman, to his credit, settled the game down after he didn’t inherit a bases loaded situation. He pitched a scoreless sixth that allowed Andrew McCutchen to give the Pirates a 10-8 lead with a solo homer for the team’s fifth of the night.
In comparison to the earlier happenings, the rest of the game was a snoozefest. Aroldis Chapman and Hunter Stratton did their best to repair the image of the Pirates’ bullpen, pitching scoreless innings before David Bednar bargained out a save and a win in exchange for one Cubs run.
All in all, a 10-9 final score your the Pittsburgh Pirates. A game for the ages that, thankfully, ended in a Buccos win.
The win almost, and I emphasize almost, makes the six walked in runs rather funny. I don’t know of any team in Major League Baseball to get that many runs as a result of walks and still lose the game.
The decision to take out Skenes early might have been Shelton trying to galaxy brain the pitching situation, but it ended up turning into an utter nightmare. I know that the Pirates likely didn’t want to overwork Skenes, but he had already shown an ability to get out of jams before.
He’s your first overall pick. You have to trust him more than that.
Fifth Avenue Sports 
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