Paul Skenes ends seven-start winless drought, Henry Davis homers in Pirates’ 1-0 victory over Angels

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Paul Skenes pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings for his first win since July 19 and Henry Davis hit a home run to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates over the Los Angeles Angels 1-0 on Sunday.

Skenes (10-11) gave up four hits, struck out two and walked one. The 2025 NL Cy Young Award winner had gone seven consecutive outings without a win since beating Cleveland in his first start after the All-Star break.

Gregory Soto, Carmen Mlodzinski, Camilo Doval and Mason Montgomery finished the five-hitter. Montgomery earned his 10th save.

It marked the first time Skenes faced the Angels, the team he grew up rooting for in Orange County.

Davis pulled a home run down the left-field line in the third inning, his ninth of the season, off Walbert Urena (9-10), who was a tough-luck loser while pitching his first career complete game and the Angels’ first of the season.

Urena, a rookie, allowed only one run and three hits with four strikeouts and one walk in eight innings. Brandon Lowe had two of the hits.

Skenes also got a big play from the Pirates’ defense in the fifth inning when Zach Neto was thrown out trying to score the tying run from first base on Mike Trout’s two-out double. Second baseman Lowe’s relay throw from center fielder Oneil Cruz cut down Neto.

The Pirates took two of three games from the Angels to win four straight series for the first time since 2024. The Halos lost for 11th time in 13 games.

Up next

Angels: RHP Grayson Rodriguez (4-6, 6.03 ERA) starts against the Red Sox on Monday night in the opener of a three-game series in Boston.

Pirates: Off Monday, then open a three-game series against the AL Central-leading White Sox on Tuesday night in Chicago, with RHP Bubba Chandler (6-9, 4.03) facing RHP Sean Burke (8-6, 3.20).

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