The St. Louis Cardinals have Paul Skenes number. I'm not quite sure how or why, but the Pittsburgh Pirates young superstar has lost four games to the Cardinals in his early career. To put that in perspective, Skenes has lost just seven games total in his brief MLB career. It'd be a step too far to suggest the Cards own Skenes. He still has an ERA under 3.00 in five appearances against St. Louis. However, Alec Burleson thinks he knows the answer to overcoming the NL Cy Young candidate's electric arsenal.
“There is no secret; it takes a little luck I feel like, and with a guy like him, you have to have a plan and stick to it for three or four at-bats,” Burleson said postgame. “That [plan] may not necessarily give you success that night, but it gives you the best chance for success. That’s what I did, and it worked out at a good time.”
The plan is to follow the plan, essentially. While that may sound like a bunch of gibberish, the Cardinals are patient against Skenes.
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St. Louis Cardinals plan against Paul Skenes is working
That is typically the best way to beat a great pitcher. St. Louis has little chance of hitting Skenes if he is at his best. However, at the very least they can force him out of the game sooner – or put him in uncomfortable situations early in the game – and perhaps get a little lucky, as Burleson put it.
“It’s a tough one because Skenes is really good, man,” Cardinals manager Oli Marmol said. “He’s really good and he was good tonight. We were able to get him there at the end, but he pitched a helluva game.”
The other key to defeating Skenes, which the Cardinals thankfully had on Tuesday night, is a starting pitcher willing to go toe-to-toe with him. Matthew Liberatore is making an early case as a key rotation cog for the Cards future. On Tuesday, Liberatore limited the Pirates to three hits and one run over seven innings.
A red-hot Burleson surely helped matters as well. His only two home runs of the season came in the Cards previous two games, and he added the decisive double against Skenes for good measure.
Skenes will have a long and successful career, whether that be in Pittsburgh or elsewhere – but he already has one bad narrative to shake off.