Paul Skenes puts on a show, throws over 100 MPH in the seventh inning

Paul Skenes refused to let a rough start stop him from continuing his MLB dominance on Sunday.

Skenes allowed a home run on his first pitch of the game, but the former LSU ace didn’t allow another run for the rest of the night. He finished with eight strikeouts in seven innings pitched and allowed one run, one walk and six hits.

The performance wasn’t enough for the win though. Skenes left the game with the score tied 1-1, but the Pirates eventually fell to the Rays 3-1.

Skenes’ ERA now sits at 2.14 on the season through 46.1 innings pitched. He also has 61 strikeouts and a 0.99 WHIP. He hasn’t pitched enough yet to qualify for the league leaderboards, but if he continues at this rate a 2.14 ERA would be tied for the second-best mark in the league.

Paul Skenes popping a 102 in the 7th inning then doing a velo check and grinning widely is just awesome. pic.twitter.com/A0l2LyIH9H

— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) June 23, 2024

The most impressive part of his performance came on his final pitch of the game. In the seventh inning, Skenes threw a 101.5 MPH fastball to record his eighth strikeout. It was the fourth-fastest strikeout by a starter in the seventh inning or later in the pitch-tracking era, according to the MLB.