Dodgers responsible for Pirates superstar rookie's worst start of career

Kyle Madson

Dodgers responsible for Pirates superstar rookie's worst start of career image

The Los Angeles Dodgers did something against the Pittsburgh Pirates that no team has ever done. 

Saturday night in Los Angeles, Pirates superstar rookie Paul Skenes took the mound at Dodger Stadium for the first time. That wouldn't be the only career-first he checked off the list. 

Finding runs against Skenes hasn't been easy for offenses this season. He entered Saturday's game with a 1.99 ERA in 14 starts with a whopping 107 strikeouts in 86 innings. He'd also not allowed more than two runs in a start since he allowed three on June 5 against ... the Dodgers. 

The Dodgers got him again Saturday. They touched up Skenes for four runs in six innings -- marking the first time in his career he's ever given up more than three runs in one start. 

Dodgers second baseman Gavin Lux drove home a run with a double in the first inning. Lux brought in two more with a single in the third inning. 

In the fifth inning, outfielder Teoscar Hernandez blasted a solo home run to centerfield off Skenes to make it 4-0 Dodgers, and to give Skenes his first ever "4" in the runs column of his stat line. 

In two games against the Dodgers, Skenes went 11 innings and allowed seven runs on 12 hits with two walks and 16 strikeouts.

His ERA against LA is 5.72. His ERA against the rest of MLB is 1.78. 

Skenes figures to be a force in the National League for the foreseeable future. That the Dodgers are finding early success against him is a good sign that they might be the one team Skenes doesn't dominate. 

More MLB: Dodgers superstar returning to outfield after polarizing position change
 

Kyle Madson

Kyle Madson Photo

Kyle Madson neither likes writing about himself nor writing in the third person. Nevertheless, he persists. While Kyle has spent most of his writing career covering the NFL’s Tennessee Titans and San Francisco 49ers, he’s never lost the love of baseball that has resided in the deepest recesses of his soul since he began playing T-ball at 4 years old (no matter how hard John Fisher has tried). Aside from writing, Kyle also hosts a radio show, the Insiders, with James Ham on ESPN 1320 in Sacramento. When he’s not being a sports dork, Kyle loves being a normal dork and traveling, visiting museums, diving further into K-Pop fandom (#SKZ) and hanging out with his wife and cats. Don’t follow him on Twitter or Instagram at @KyleAMadson.