Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani Hypes Paul Skenes: 'I Couldn't Put Together Good Swings'

The Los Angeles Dodgers' 10-6 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday night was overshadowed by the three times Shohei Ohtani stepped to the plate against Paul Skenes.

Ohtani had nothing but praise for Skenes, particularly in the first at-bat when the Dodgers superstar struck out by swinging at three fastballs that were all at least 100 mph.

"His stuff that first at-bat was really good," Ohtani told reporters after the game. "I couldn't put together good swings, but overall just really good stuff."

Ohtani got his revenge with hits in his next two at-bats against Skenes, including a two-run homer to center on a 100 mph fastball in the top of the third.

Ohtani became the first player to hit a homer off Skenes' fastball this season. The Pirates right-hander only allowed two home runs in his first four starts, both on sliders.

Per Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times, Ohtani is the first Dodgers player this season to homer on a fastball that was at least 97 mph.

Skenes gave up another homer in the fifth inning to Andy Pages, which also came on a slider.

Skenes finished the game with eight strikeouts, six hits and three earned runs allowed in five innings. He is 3-0 in five starts since being called up from Triple-A on May 8.

Pittsburgh is 4-1 overall in games started by Skenes. The 22-year-old has been everything the Pirates could have hoped for since selecting him No. 1 overall in the 2023 MLB draft. He hasn't allowed more than three runs in any start and has 38 strikeouts in 27 innings.

The Pirates are quietly hanging around in the NL Central race, though that says as much about the division as it does them. They are 6.5 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers, despite a 29-32 record.

Even though the sample size is small, the lineup has stepped up its performance. They have scored at least eight runs four times in their last 10 games after hitting that mark just four times in 36 games from April 14 to May 23.

Ohtani's good game took some of the sting away from a Dodgers team that has hit a bit of a rough patch. They have lost eight of their last 13 games and had been held to nine runs over the past three games prior to Wednesday night.

Despite this recent losing skid, the Dodgers (38-25) still lead the NL West by seven games with the second-best run differential (plus-81) in the National League.