GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
One fan at PNC Park in Pittsburgh said it best with a spin on the MLB abbreviation for Major League Baseball Monday night at PNC Park in Pittsburgh on a sign that said, “Welcome to the M-LSU-B.”
The SportsNet Pittsburgh cable television cameras showed the sign just as Pirates ace Paul Skenes was about to pitch against his college buddy from LSU – Washington Nationals right fielder Dylan Crews – for the first time in an MLB game.
LEGENDARY DUEL FOR THE AGES WITH MANY MORE TO COME
Those two went 1-2 in the July 9, 2023, MLB Draft just two weeks after those two led LSU to the national championship at the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.
Crews, batting eighth, faced Skenes with two outs and a runner on in the top of the second inning. On a one-ball, two-strike pitch, Crews bounced it back to Skenes, who flipped it to first for the out.
“I knew he was fast,” Skenes said. “That first ball that came back to me, it was shocking how fast he was. He doesn’t have many holes.”
The last time Crews faced Skenes, he was a freshman at LSU while Skenes was a freshman pitcher/first baseman at Air Force on Feb. 21, 2021, at Alex Box Stadium. And Crews hit the first of his 58 home runs in his LSU career – a solo shot to left field in the ninth inning off Skenes in a 6-5 LSU loss. Skenes got the save as he struck out Tre Morgan – another star on the Tigers’ 2023 national championship team – to end the game. Two years later, Skenes transferred to LSU, and the rest is history.
In Crews’ next at-bat against Skenes Monday, he looked like he beat out a full-count grounder to third base in the fifth inning, but the throw apparently just beat him.
“You’ve just got to go out there and execute against him,” Skenes said. “It was good to see him.”
Crews finished 0-for-2 against Skenes, who left after six innings with a 5-2 lead, and the Pirates went on to a 10-3 win as Skenes got the victory.
PAUL SKENES JUST KEEPS MAKING HISTORY
Skenes (2-1, 2.96 ERA, .169 batting average allowed) allowed three hits and one earned run in six innings with zero walks and six strikeouts. He has 26 strikeouts on the season with three walks.
After an 0-for-4 night overall, Crews’ average dropped to .106 (5-for-47) with a .143 on-base average and 18 strikeouts.
Pittsburgh improved to 6-11, while the Nats dropped to 6-10. They play again at 5:40 p.m. today as Crews will continue to try to exit what has been a season-long slump.
Skenes and Crews are the first players from the same college to go 1 and 2 in the MLB Draft in history. Skenes made more history Monday when teammate and backup catcher Henry Davis, who was the No. 1 overall pick of the 2021 draft, entered the game. They became the first pair of No. 1 overall picks to form a pitcher-catcher battery on a team in MLB history.
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