Pittsburgh’s 22-year-old ace from Orange County pitches 6⅓ innings with a season-high nine strikeouts and wins in the L.A. area for the first time, handing the Dodgers their fourth loss in five

Paul Skenes pitched 6 1/3 innings of five-hit ball with a season-high nine strikeouts, winning his duel with Yoshinobu Yamamoto and leading the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 3-0 victory over the slumping Los Angeles Dodgers.

Oneil Cruz led off the game against Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto (3-2) with a walk and later stole second base. With two outs, Enmanuel Valdez singled to right field to plate Cruz and give the Pirates (11-16) a 1-0 lead.

Zach Neto hit a tiebreaking home run in the eighth inning as the Angels defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-3 to avoid a three-game series sweep.

It took just under a month into the season, but Thursday night in Anaheim, the Pittsburgh Pirates were presented with their first opportunity at a sweep in 2025. For their two preceding wins over the Los Angeles Angels,