PITTSBURGH (AP) — Paul Skenes wants the ball. All the time.
Yet the only pitcher in major league history to start the All-Star Game in each of his first two seasons also understands the Pittsburgh Pirates are intent on playing the long game with his electric right arm.
They did a year ago, when they put Skenes on a soft innings cap during his remarkable rookie season. They're doing it again this summer. To a point, anyway.
So when Skenes walked into the dugout on Monday night after needing 86 pitches to get through six innings against the Detroit Tigers, the 23-year-old didn't put up a fight when manager Don Kelly turned to reliever Braxton Ashcraft for the seventh in what eventually became a 3-0 victory.
“I haven't had a real start in 10 days,” Skenes said after lowering his ERA to 1.91, the best in the majors. “So it’s a little bit of a ramp back up. I think that it was about as good as it could have been ... a pretty good starting point.”
Sure looked like it. Skenes struck out six while allowing three hits to pick up his first victory since late May. The dry spell had nothing to do with his pitching — Skenes had a 1.77 ERA in his last eight starts entering Monday. Instead, it can be blamed on an offense that has scored the fewest runs in the majors.
Skenes has taken the high road amid his team's struggles, to the point that Kelly needs to remind himself that Skenes just turned 23 less than two months ago.
“He’s wise beyond his years,” Kelly said. “The maturity level he shows when he’s out there, really, I don’t remember seeing anybody in my time (who's had that).”
The Pirates are relying on it as they try to help him navigate his first full season in the big leagues. He bought in — begrudgingly at first — to the plan to monitor his workload as a rookie. This year, he wanted to take the ball and let it rip.
And while he has — Skenes has thrown 127 innings this season, nearly matching the 133 he tossed after being called up last May — Pittsburgh is trying to find the safest, healthiest path to help him make to late September.
“I don’t think anybody has the perfect answer,” Kelly said. “Just trying to make sure that we’re taking everything into account and collaborating with people that know more than even I do about all of this stuff and taking everybody’s thoughts into consideration and finding what we feel is the best way to go.”
Skenes is a part of that process, and he's amenable, within reason. He hasn't thrown more than 88 pitches in any of his four starts this month, even though he's allowed all of two runs in the process.
“There’s still going to be starts where it’s like, ‘Hey, go out there and pitch,’” Skenes said. “I think we’re just going to pick our times with that. So I don’t know. There’s a long way to go still. So just going to keep pitching until they take the ball out of my hands.”
Kelly is hopeful Skenes can flirt with reaching 200 innings, a goal that seems doable if he can make another dozen starts like his first 21 this season. Skenes is a Cy Young Award contender despite playing for a last-place team that will likely be a seller at the trade deadline.
Pittsburgh's victory on Monday night was its second in its last 13 games. The energy that characterized Kelly's first 50 games on the job after replacing Derek Shelton in May has faded in the summer heat.
All around Skenes on Monday, there were signs of a club already looking to the future — again. A handful of the team's picks in last week’s draft stood on the field at PNC Park after signing contracts. Johan Oviedo, who hasn't pitched in the majors since 2023 while recovering from Tommy John surgery, is hopeful to be back this season, though a return to the rotation might have to wait until 2026.
The team's misfortunes, however, have not affected Skenes' mindset or his performance. He can only control what he can control. Things haven't gone according to plan — not by a long shot — for the Pirates. All the face of the franchise can do is take the ball every handful of days and do his part.
If that means he won't get to throw until he thinks he's done some nights, so be it. He's willing to go along with whatever the plan is, with one notable exception.
“Not skipping a start,” he said. “That’s a no-go. That’s not good. ... That’s not ideal. We’ve done a good job to this point, just working within our own parameters."
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes, center, stands in the dugout during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Detroit Tigers in Pittsburgh, Monday, July 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Detroit Tigers' Riley Greene reacts between throws while facing Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes during the first inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Monday, July 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the Detroit Tigers in Pittsburgh, Monday, July 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Auckland was the first major city to ring in 2026 with a fireworks display launched from New Zealand’s tallest structure, Sky Tower, followed by a defiant celebration in Australia in the aftermath of its worst mass shooting.
South Pacific countries were the first to bid farewell to 2025. Clocks stuck midnight in Auckland 18 hours before the famous ball drop in New York’s Times Square. The five-minute display involved 3,500 fireworks.
Australia’s east coast welcomed 2026 two hours after New Zealand. In Sydney, the country's largest city, celebrations were held under the pall of Australia’s worst mass shooting in almost 30 years. Two gunmen targeted a Hannukah celebration at Bondi Beach on Dec. 14, killing 15 and wounding 40.
A heavy police presence monitored the thousands who thronged to the waterfront to watch a fireworks show centered on the Sydney Harbor Bridge. Many officers openly carried rapid-fire rifles, a first for the annual event.
An hour before midnight, the massacre victims were commemorated with a minute of silence while images of a menorah were projected on the bridge pylons. The crowd was invited to show solidarity with Australia’s Jewish community.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns urged Sydney residents not to stay away through fear, saying extremists would interpret smaller crowds at New Year’s Eve festivities as a victory.
“We have to show defiance in the face of this terrible crime and say that we’re not going to be cowered by this kind of terrorism,” he said.
In Indonesia, one of Australia’s nearest neighbors, cities scaled back festivities as a gesture of solidarity with communities devastated by floods and landslides that struck parts of Sumatra island a month ago, claiming more than 1,100 lives.
The capital, Jakarta, was not ringing in 2026 with its usual fanfare, choosing subdued celebrations with a program centered on prayers for victims, city Gov. Pramono Anung said last week.
Makassar Mayor Munafri Arifuddin urged residents of one of Indonesia’s largest cities to forgo parties, calling for prayer and reflection. "Empathy and restraint are more meaningful than fireworks and crowds,” he said.
Concerts and fireworks on Indonesia’s tourist island of Bali were canceled and replaced with a cultural arts event featuring traditional dances.
Hong Kong, too, was ringing in 2026 without the usual spectacle in the sky over iconic Victoria Harbor, after a massive fire in November killed at least 161 people.
The facades of eight landmarks were turning into giant countdown clocks presenting a three-minute light show at midnight.
Many parts of Asia welcome the new year by observing age-old traditions.
In Japan, crowds were gathering at a Buddhist temple in Tokyo for a bell striking at midnight. In the South Korean capital, Seoul, a bell tolling and countdown ceremony were being held at the Bosingak Pavilion.
Tourists and Berliners alike marked the end of 2025 by enjoying snowfall, taking selfies and making snowmen in front of the German capital's cathedral and the iconic Brandenburg Gate. The Berlin TV Tower was nearly invisible thanks to the falling flakes and fog.
Greece and Cyprus were ringing in 2026 by turning down the volume, replacing traditional fireworks with low-noise pyrotechnics, light shows and drone displays in capital cities. Low-noise fireworks avoid the explosive bursts that generate the loud cracks of traditional displays.
Officials in the countries said the change is intended to make celebrations more welcoming for children and pets, particularly animals sensitive to loud noise.
Police in New York City will have additional anti-terrorism measures at the Times Square ball drop, with “mobile screening teams” in search of suspicious activity. It is not in response to a specific threat, according to NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
Zohran Mamdani will take office as mayor at the start of 2026. Two swearing-in ceremonies are planned, starting with a private ceremonial event around midnight in an old subway station.
Saaliq reported from New Delhi, India. Associated Press writers around the world contributed to this report.
The police stand guard during the 2026 Taipei New Year's Party celebration in front of the Taipei City Government Building in Taipei, Taiwan, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
People gather to celebrate the New Year at the Zojoji Buddhist temple, on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025 in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
A Buddhist prays in front of lanterns on New Year's Eve at the Jogye temple in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Fireworks burst over the Sydney Harbour Bridge during the New Year celebrations in Sydney, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Swimmers enter the water during the traditional Sylvester swim at lake Moossee in Moosseedorf, Switzerland, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (Anthony Anex/Keystone via AP)
A child poses for a photo with a prosperity decoration to welcome 2026 Year of the Horse, following the Chinese zodiac at a shopping district on new year's eve, in Beijing, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
A person walks by illuminated decorations on New Year's Eve in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Fireworks burst over the Sydney Harbour Bridge as New Year's celebrations begin in Sydney, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Fireworks burst over the Sydney Harbour Bridge as New Year's celebrations begin in Sydney, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Ryan Seacrest and Rita Ora, hosts of "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2026," in New York at the New Year's Eve Times Square Ball on Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)
A vendor sells New Year's eve party goods at a market in downtown Lima, Peru, Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)
A families pose for a photo with a prosperity decoration to welcome 2026 Year of the Horse, following the Chinese zodiac as people visit a shopping district on new year's eve, in Beijing, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
A child poses for a photo with a prosperity decoration to welcome 2026 Year of the Horse, following the Chinese zodiac at a shopping district on new year's eve, in Beijing, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
