Paul Skenes, Pirates chase series win vs. Zac Gallen, Diamondbacks

All Star, meet All-Star.

The past two National League starting pitchers in the All-Star Game will take the mound when the Arizona Diamondbacks and Pittsburgh Pirates meet in the rubber match of a three-game series Wednesday afternoon in Phoenix.

Pirates right-hander Paul Skenes (3-5, 2.36 ERA) became one of five rookie pitchers with an All-Star Game start when he opened the 2024 contest with a scoreless first inning.

"Shoot, to be a rookie starting the All-Star Game," Pirates interim manager Don Kelly said of the "pop" moments he has seen from Skenes.

"The other day we were in Philly and he threw three fastballs by Bryce (Harper). You don't see that happen too often with Bryce."

Skenes threw four pitches in that at-bat, two at 98 mph and the last two at 99 mph, according to Statcast. He was the hard-luck loser in that game, allowing three hits and a run over eight innings.

The Pirates will play with some momentum. They overcame a six-run deficit for a 9-6 victory Tuesday, when Bryan Reynolds capped a four-hit game with a three-run homer to break a tie in Pittsburgh's seven-run eighth inning.

"Wow. That's all I can say," Kelly said.

Arizona right-hander Zac Gallen (3-6, 5.25) will look to reverse a recent trend when he takes the mound Wednesday.

Since starting the 2023 All-Star Game, Gallen has seen his ERA creep up in each of the past three seasons. His ERA through 11 starts this season is almost two runs higher than his career mark of 3.43.

Gallen's velocity and pitch mix are within the margin of error of his career numbers, but his walks are up. He leads the NL in walks this season with 29 and averages 4.2 per nine innings, twice as many as his 2023 average.

"Zac is an elite strike thrower, and he hits lines," Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. "He's just off of the line. He's just missing by a small margin. We have to get him on the plate a little more consistently. All the data we look at, everything is the same. He's just missing by a small amount.

"I think teams game-plan for him. They are smart. The ones that get him do a good job of being really stubborn to certain pitches in certain zones and check off (take) certain pitches. Now all of a sudden, instead of two walks you might have four walks in a game."

Skenes has made quality starts in eight of his 11 appearances this season, including seven of the past eight. The only outlier in the recent run came when he gave up three runs in five innings of an 8-3 loss to the Chicago Cubs on May 1.

Skenes' only real hiccup this season occurred in his third start, when he allowed five runs in six innings of a 5-3 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on April 8.

He has faced the Diamondbacks once, giving up three runs in 5 1/3 innings of a no-decision at PNC Park.

Skenes has surrendered only four homers in 68 2/3 innings this season and has not allowed any since giving up three -- all solo shots -- in the fifth inning on May 1.

Gallen has given up 14 earned runs and 21 hits in his past three starts while working 16 1/3 innings. He is 3-2 with a 3.34 ERA in five starts against the Pirates.

--Field Level Media