It is only about every fifth game when Paul Skenes takes the mound that Pittsburgh Pirates fans have something to look forward to. However, the NL Central's last-place team recently did impressively sweep the St. Louis Cardinals in a three-game set and did not allow a run to end June and start July.
Just when it looked like the Pirates may have turned a new leaf and were striking on all cylinders, the script was flipped in the most literal way possible. On Sunday, the Seattle Mariners capped off a sweep of the Pirates, holding them scoreless over a three-game series. The Pirates became the first team in MLB history to record three straight shutouts, then get shut out three games in a row.
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Pirates offense return to their horrific form
The lack of runs the Pittsburgh Pirates have scored this season has usually been centered around the fact that they are wasting quality starts from superstar starting pitcher Paul Skenes. The fact of the matter is that Pittsburgh has struggled offensively all of 2025 no matter who is on the mound.
The Pirates currently rank 24th in MLB in batting average (.232), 27th in runs scored (310), are tied for 29th in home runs and have the lowest slugging percentage in the entire league.
Pittsburgh scoring 13 runs in their most recent series against the Cardinals gave some fans false hope that their team had figured something out. On the contrary, the Pirates lost 6-0 to the Seattle Mariners on Friday and followed that with two consecutive 1-0 losses on Saturday and Sunday to cap off their weekend.
Believe it or not, Paul Skenes tossed yet another gem on Sunday that he was not rewarded for. Skenes went five innings without giving up a run or walking a batter and struck out 10. He was left with another no-decision after lowering his ERA to 1.94 on the season.
Baseball is a very analytical game, and statistics do not lie. There is no sugar-coating the Pirates struggles this weekend — they are just simply not a good baseball team in 2025, and the future of star players like Paul Skenes and Oneil Cruz has to be in question when seeing a franchise drop to this level consistently.