Phillies' Mick Abel bests Pirates' Paul Skenes in pitcher's duel

Mick Abel tied a franchise record with nine strikeouts over six innings in his Major League debut as the host Philadelphia Phillies completed a three-game sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates with a 1-0 victory on Sunday afternoon.

Abel (1-0), a first round pick in the 2020 MLB Draft out of Jesuit High School in Portland, Ore., scattered five hits and tied the team MLB debut strikeout mark set by Curt Simmons of "Whiz Kids" fame on Sept. 28, 1947 against the New York Giants.

Abel left after throwing 84 pitches, 62 for strikes. He didn't walk a batter and had just three three-ball counts. He struck out the side in the second inning and became the first pitcher in Phillies history to strike out five batters in the first two innings of their Major League debut.

Jordan Romano struck out the side in the ninth to notch his fifth save for the Phillies, who won for the fourth time in five games.

Paul Skenes (3-5) suffered the loss despite allowing just three hits and one run over eight innings. Skenes walked one and struck out nine but fell to 0-3 over his last four starts, with his last win coming on April 25 against the Dodgers in Los Angeles, 3-0.

Philadelphia took a 1-0 lead in the fifth inning when Nick Castellanos led off with an infield single, advanced to third on a single by Max Kepler and scored one out later on a fielder's choice by Brandon Marsh.

The Pirates got their first two batters on to start the seventh against reliever Orion Kerkering. Ke'Bryan Hayes walked and went to second on a single by Alexander Canario.

Kerkering bounced back to get Hayes at third on Adam Frazier's sacrifice bunt attempt, and then got out of the jam by getting Isiah Kiner-Falefa to ground into a double play.

Matt Strahm then pitched a 1-2-3 eighth for the Phillies before turning it over to Romano in the ninth.

--Field Level Media