The San Diego Padres are the lone National League team that Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes has never faced as he eases into his third major league season.

That will change on Tuesday when Skenes (1-1, 9.53 ERA) matches up with the fellow right-hander Nick Pivetta (1-1, 6.75) of the Padres in the second contest of a three-game set in Pittsburgh.

After enduring his shortest and worst career outing on Opening Day against the New York Mets, Skenes rebounded on Wednesday. The reigning National League Cy Young Award winner threw five strong innings in an 8-3 win over the Cincinnati Reds. Skenes gave up a run on three hits and two walks, and he struck out five in a 77-pitch appearance.

“Still a work in progress, but nice to give some volume and be out there for more than two-thirds of an inning,” Skenes said, referring to the length of his March 26 start vs. the Mets in which he yielded five runs on four hits and two walks.

Pivetta, in his most recent start, also put together a major rebound start following a poor Opening Day outing.

The 33-year-old Canadian gave up only one hit over five shutout innings, struck out eight and walked two to help the Padres beat the San Francisco Giants 7-1 on Wednesday. The performance came six days after Pivetta allowed six runs on seven hits and three walks while striking out three over three innings in an 8-2 loss to the Detroit Tigers.

“That first game, that was not Pivetta,” Padres catcher Freddy Fermin said after Pivetta’s most recent start. “(Against the Giants), he made adjustments and pitched in the right spots.”

Pivetta is 2-1 with a 2.17 ERA in six career outings (five starts) against the Pirates.

While Skenes didn’t turn in a completely dominant effort vs. the Reds, the five-inning outing helped quell concerns for Pittsburgh that its ace was experiencing any sort of negative effects from having pitched in the World Baseball Classic.

“Just remembering what’s real and what isn’t real, I guess. Nothing matters except for the play. Nothing matters except for the game,” Skenes said. “I’m pretty insulated from a lot of stuff that’s out there. The stuff that I do see or hear, I don’t really care anyway, because it doesn’t have anything to do with the play. Throughout the week, basically just thinking about getting back to execution and executing my pitches. That’s it.”

Skenes will try to cool off a suddenly energized San Diego lineup, which powered a 5-0 shutout of the Pirates on Monday and has led the Padres to three consecutive wins. The Padres could have made it an even more lopsided result in the series opener had they not left 10 runners on base.

Skenes finally will get to face Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill, who was the runner-up to Skenes for NL Rookie of the Year in 2024. Merrill has been part of San Diego’s offense surge, collecting four hits, three runs, a homer and three RBIs in the past two games.

“Good arm, good challenge,” Merrill said, according to MLB.com, about facing Skenes on Tuesday. “The Rookie of the Year stuff, that doesn’t matter anymore. But it’s fun for the game of baseball.”

–Field Level Media