Paul Skenes dazzles on mound for 2nd time in 3 games, showing he's still among MLB's elite

PHOENIX (AP) — Paul Skenes struck out the side in the eighth inning, throwing a nasty splitter past Gabriel Moreno on his 97th and final pitch of the evening before smacking his glove in approval as he walked back to the dugout.

Watch out big-league hitters — the defending National League Cy Young winner is starting to heat up.

The 23-year-old right-hander threw eight innings of two-hit ball on Wednesday night, leading the Pirates to a 1-0 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks in a stellar performance that was among the best of his career.

“It’s not easy, but it's simple," Skenes said. “It you execute your pitches, it's going to go the way you want it to.”

It was the second time in the past three outings that Skenes has been at his best. He took a perfect game into the seventh inning of a 6-0 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on April 24.

Skenes pounded the strike zone on Wednesday with his five-pitch mix, coaxing the aggressive Diamondbacks hitters into quick outs. He retired the first 14 batters of the night before Lourdes Gurriel Jr. reached base on a soft dribbler down the third-base line that was ruled a single.

Skenes tried to make the play, but couldn't get off the mound fast enough. His throw to first base sailed well wide of the bag.

“I got a good grip — just threw it away,” Skenes said, flashing a small grin. “Didn’t throw it to the right place. Got to throw it to the right place next time.”

Nolan Arenado followed with a sharp single to left field, but that was the last baserunner Skenes allowed. He struck out seven and he rarely fell behind in the count, throwing 65 of 97 pitches for strikes.

He has a 5-2 record this season with a 2.36 ERA, striking out 46 batters over 42 innings. It's a big reason the Pirates look like contenders this season in the NL Central with a 20-17 record.

“I don’t know what else there is to say — he was unbelievable,” manager Don Kelly said. “Getting ahead in counts, the elite stuff, putting guys away, low pitch count, very efficient. He was unreal.”

It was a mild surprise that Skenes wasn't back on the mound in the ninth to try for his first career shutout. Left-hander Gregory Soto handled the ninth, working around a one-out walk to secure his second save of the season.

Kelly said Skenes' command wasn't quite as sharp in the eighth inning and his velocity was down slightly, prompting the change.

Skenes — the No. 1 overall pick in 2023 out of LSU — has never thrown a nine-inning complete game in his big league career. He threw 8 1/3 innings once as a rookie in 2024 and threw an eight-inning complete game last season in a 1-0 loss against the Phillies.

This time, Skenes was on the winning end of a 1-0 game. Brandon Lowe supplied the only offense, hitting a 435-foot solo homer to center field. After that, the veteran second baseman had a leisurely evening in the field.

On nights like this one, Skenes doesn't need much help.

“It was really easy — didn't have to do a whole lot,” Lowe said. “Just get out there, watch him do what he does and consistently roll out great appearances. It's fun when you can sit back and let him go on auto-pilot.”

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB

Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes sits in the team dugout during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Wednesday, May 6, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes throws against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the seventh inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, May 6, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes throws against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the first inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, May 6, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes reacts after retiring the Arizona Diamondbacks during the eighth inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, May 6, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 7, 2026--

A path breaking scientific discovery, unraveling successful wound healing mechanism in urethral stricture with BEES-HAUS cell therapy has been reported by Indo-Japan physician-scientists. This milestone achievement in regenerative medicine, yielding clinical safety and efficacy, is the first of its kind, wherein a hybrid approach of mixing two groups of autologous buccal epithelial cells,one cultured in 2D and another in 3D in Festigel scaffold were used in the management of urethral stricture; paracrine effect of IGF-1 produced by 2D-cultured cells and engraftment of 3D-Festigel cultured cells, which cover the urethrotomy wound, together repairing the urothelial defect, has been published in Frontiers in Urology. This feat though modest, is a global first in terms of both in vitro tissue engineering and clinical benefits by in vivo healing, restoring the urothelial integrity and is a giant leap for its potential of yielding stricture recurrence-free good quality of life to patients with voiding problems, opined the researchers.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260506584358/en/

Tissue engineering technologies to create organs in the lab such as urethra have been reported. But long-term recurrence free solution for male urethral stricture remains a challenge. Balloon dilatation or DVIU urethrotomy exposes the sub urothelial tissue to urine which triggers inflammation causing spongiofibrosis and stricture recurrence. Covering the urethrotomy wound, to restore the urothelial integrity of stricture inflicted urethra, currently accomplished by BMG-plasty with a sheet of autologous buccal tissue, in BEES-HAUS procedure is managed with cell transplant for short segment strictures. Further simplified one-step cell transplant ‘ BHES-HAUS’, that doesn’t require cell culture in a lab, yielding encouraging outcome, has been accepted for an interactive presentation at the American Urological Association meeting, AUA 2026.

Inflammatory reaction of urethra provoked by catheterization, instrumentation or infection varies between individuals and some develop urethral stricture. To predict the risks and develop better management strategies, following futuristic research have been initiated:

BEES-HAUS, having been approved in Japan as per Act on Safety of Regenerative Medicine, GN Corporation and Global Niche Corp., USA are open for out-licensing and tech-transfer of BHES-HAUS for clinical translation after approvals worldwide.

Urethral stricture starts with narrowing of a short segment of urethral lumen. At early stages, it is managed by balloon dilatation or DVIU Urethrotomy. The open urethrotomy wound after dilatation or DVIU has to heal from the edges of the wound, which may take a longer time. In BEES-HAUS cell therapy, the cell transplant having proven successful engraftment, covering the urethrotomy wound, yielding clinical safety and efficacy may be considered to be included in the treatment guidelines after validation. Its simplified version, the BHES-HAUS (Buccal epithelium Hashed and Encapsulated in Scaffold—Hybrid Approach to Urethral Stricture) accomplished in one-go without need for cell culture in a lab, works on similar principles. After long term follow-up, BHES-HAUS minimally invasive approach may be worth combining with DVIU and balloon dilatation, as it may be able to provide longer duration of recurrence-free, good quality of life without need for intermittent self-catheterization.