Pittsburgh Pirates rookie Paul Skenes has been dominating early in his career. It’s also not a coincidence that the stud pitcher has yet to face MLB’s best player in that of Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
That changed on Wednesday with the righty taking to the bump at home against Los Angeles.
Skenes entered this matchup having posted a 2-0 record with a 2.45 ERA in four starts since the former top prospect was called up to the bigs. He had struck out 30 batters in 22 innings while boasting a 0.91 WHIP.
After Pittsburgh hung a seven spot on Los Angeles in the second inning, Ohtani took to the plate with one out. That’s when Skenes made the first real mistake of his young MLB career. The reigning American League MVP made him pay with a violent two-run blast.
It’s not the homer that had people talking. Ohtani admiring his 15th blast of the season was not the talking point. Instead, it was all about Skenes’ reaction. Check it out.
From the leg kick to the reaction on Paul Skenes’ face, this was absolutely epic.
Skenes is going to give up his fair share of homers as the rookie continues his career. But we’re sure that he’ll never forget that Ohtani blast.
As for Los Angeles’ two-way star, Ohtani’s first season has been great. Despite off-field distractions, he headed into Wednesday’s MLB action hitting .321 with 14 homers, 38 RBI and a .980 OPS for the first-place Dodgers.
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