One swing decided it
Henry Davis pulled a ball down the left-field line in the third inning. Nobody scored again.
The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Los Angeles Angels 1-0 on Sunday behind that solo home run, Davis’s ninth of the season, and 5 1/3 scoreless innings from Paul Skenes. Skenes allowed four hits, walked one and struck out two to move to 10-11.
The win snapped a seven-start drought. Skenes had not won since July 19, when he beat Cleveland in his first outing after the All-Star break. The 2025 National League Cy Young winner had pitched well enough in several of those starts without the run support to show for it.
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The play that saved the shutout
Los Angeles came closest in the fifth. Mike Trout doubled with two outs and Zach Neto tried to score all the way from first base. Oneil Cruz fielded it in centre and fired to Lowe, whose relay throw beat Neto to the plate.
That was the tying run, erased. Skenes handed the ball over an inning later and the bullpen finished the job. Gregory Soto, Carmen Mlodzinski, Camilo Doval and Mason Montgomery combined to complete a five-hitter, Montgomery recording his 10th save.
A tough-luck complete game
Walbert Urena deserved better. The Angels right-hander threw the first complete game of his career and lost it, dropping to 9-10. He gave up one run on the Davis homer and nothing else across eight innings.
Complete games are rare enough now that losing one 1-0 borders on cruel. Urena struck out the middle of the Pittsburgh order repeatedly and still walked off with a defeat.
A first look at the team he grew up watching
Skenes had never faced the Angels before. He grew up in Orange County rooting for them, which added a layer to a start he had been waiting nearly seven weeks to convert into a win.
The series produced three runs in total across three games. Pittsburgh took two of them, both by a single run. For a team long out of contention, Sunday was about their ace finding the win column again before the season runs out.
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