Pirates fans have new reason to despise Cardinals as Paul Skenes struggles continue

It's never been more clear that the Pittsburgh Pirates front office has no idea what they have in Paul Skenes. If they did, they would at least make some semblance of an effort to build a remotely competitive team around him.

Skenes did his part on Tuesday against the St. Louis Cardinals, allowing just two runs on three hits while overcoming a career-high four walks and striking out six over six quality innings. However, in what has become a far too common theme, the Pirates' offense (or lack thereof) failed to provide him with any run support. They fell to the Cardinals by a final score of 2-1 in their sixth consecutive loss.

Make it seven after Wednesday's sad 5-0 afternoon defeat in the finale. The Pirates haven't won a series since April 24.

Skenes took the loss on Tuesday, though, which was the seventh of his career, in his 31st MLB start. To add insult to injury, it was his fourth career loss to the Cardinals. That's right – more than half of Skenes' total losses in his career have been at the hands of one of Pittsburgh's most hated division rivals. As if Pirates fans really needed another reason to despise St. Louis.

Pirates swept by Cardinals in yet another abysmal offensive showing

Skenes isn't the only Pirates pitcher being deprived of run support, but the offense has been particularly abysmal with him on the mound. Over Skenes' past four starts, Pittsburgh's bats have given him just seven runs in support. The Pirates are now 3-5 with Skenes on the mound this season, a far cry from the 15-8 record they had in his starts in 2024.

It was a similar story on Wednesday, when the Pirates' bats failed to provide enough offense to support a quality start from Mitch Keller in the series finale against St. Louis. After scoring just one run on four hits with Skenes on the mound the night before, Pittsburgh was limited to just four hits once again in a 5-0 shutout loss.

The Pirates are the third-worst team in baseball with a 12-26 record, and they've been shut out seven times in 38 games. They have also been swept four times this season, including twice in the last week.

Losing to a division rival always stings, especially when that division rival seems to be your ace's Kryptonite. But it stings even more to hit rock bottom as a franchise, and the Pirates appear destined to continue to spiral with no end in sight.

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