Skenes' All-Star start ends almost half-century drought for Pittsburgh pitchers

Paul Skenes is set to start the All-Star game, the first time since 1995 that a rookie pitcher has that honour.

It's been even longer since a Pittsburgh player has been in that spotlight.

The last pitcher from the Pirates to start the All-Star game was Jerry Reuss in 1975, in the middle of a decade when Pittsburgh won two World Series. That's the second-longest active drought without a pitcher starting the All-Star game. The Chicago Cubs have not had one since Claude Passeau in 1946. (The Miami Marlins have never had the starting pitcher for the National League, but they've only been playing since 1993.)

The longest drought in the American League belongs to the Baltimore Orioles, who have not had the All-Star starter since Steve Stone in 1980. But that's about to change as well after Corbin Burnes was named this year's AL starter Monday.

This stellar beginning to Skenes' career — in 11 starts, he's 6-0 with a 1.90 ERA — has made his outings must-see TV and brought a bit of buzz to Pittsburgh. The Pirates are 48-48, which puts them in the mix for a wild card. Skenes and outfielder Bryan Reynolds are both All-Stars. The team hasn't had more than two in a season since 2015, when Andrew McCutchen and Gerrit Cole were both in Pittsburgh.

Now McCutchen is back with the Pirates as his career winds down, and with Skenes, Reynolds and 6-foot-7 shortstop Oneil Cruz, Pittsburgh has a chance to turn some heads the rest of the way.

TRIVIA TIME

Name the record 13 different pitchers from the Brooklyn or Los Angeles Dodgers who have started the All-Star game.

A-PLUS OFFENSE, OCCASIONALLY

The Oakland Athletics pummelled Philadelphia 18-3 on Sunday. Although the A's are 24 games under .500, they're also responsible for the three highest-scoring games in baseball this year. Oakland also beat Miami 20-4 on May 4 and routed Baltimore 19-8 on July 6.

The A's have 390 runs so far. Nearly 15% of them were in those three games.

Oakland is also one of just five teams in the majors to be shut out at least 10 times already. The Chicago White Sox are atop that list with 12.

LINE OF THE WEEK

It belongs to Skenes, who pitched seven no-hit innings at Milwaukee on Thursday before being removed after 99 pitches. The Pirates won 1-0. Opponents are batting just .202 against Skenes.

Skenes also had a six-inning start with no hits allowed in May against the Cubs. The Pirates are 8-3 in games he's started.

COMEBACK OF THE WEEK

The Los Angeles Dodgers could use a break right now. After being swept in a three-game showdown at Philadelphia, the NL West leaders went to Detroit and dropped two of three, giving away ninth-inning leads in both losses. Saturday's 11-9 defeat was particularly troubling. Los Angeles was up 9-4 in the ninth — its win probability maxed out at 99.5% according to Baseball Savant — before a dramatic rally by the Tigers.

It was still 9-6 with Detroit down to its last out, but then Carson Kelly hit an RBI single and rookie Colt Keith tied it with a two-run homer. Gio Urshela than hit a two-run shot in the 10th to end the game.

TRIVIA ANSWER

Whit Wyatt, Ralph Branca, Don Drysdale, Johnny Podres, Sandy Koufax, Andy Messersmith, Don Sutton, Fernando Valenzuela, Hideo Nomo, Brad Penny, Zack Greinke, Hyun Jin Ryu and Clayton Kershaw.