This article is a part of Verducci’s View, a new weekly baseball newsletter from Sports Illustrated senior writer Tom Verducci. Every Monday, Tom empties out his notebook over email and covers MLB’s hottest topics, provides in-depth analysis through both text and video breakdowns, looks forward to what’s worth watching during the week and more. If you want to be featured in his new mailbag, please email [email protected] with any questions about MLB or his decades in the sport.
Pirates righthander Paul Skenes on Sunday won for the first time in eight starts, stopping a drought in which he was 5–3 with a 5.77 ERA. His start against the Angels was not vintage Skenes, however. He did throw shutout ball but departed one out into the fifth inning and with only two strikeouts, tying a career low for any start of one inning or more.
