Once again Skenes makes himself at home among the ivy, Cubs lose to Pirates

Maybe this is something for Jed Hoyer, or whoever is running the Cubs, to bookmark in the future.

Pittsburgh ace Paul Skenes made himself comfortable in the Friendly Confines and became the latest in a line of quality pitchers to shut down the Cubs offense. Skenes lasted just 5 innings, but the Pirates won 2-1 in 10 innings Friday.

Two years into his MLB career, Skenes has already pitched at Wrigley three times. His record is stellar, with no runs allowed over 16 innings. Before the game, he offered a love letter of sorts to SportsNet Pittsburgh,

“It's one of the destinations in baseball that really makes you think about what came before us,” Skenes said. “I really look forward to pitching here. It's fun to be back here. Chicago's a great city, the fans are awesome and it's Wrigley Field. There's not much better than that.”

While Skenes might love Wrigley a little too much for the Cubs' well-being, there were still 5 innings against the Pirates bullpen when the home team managed to score just a single run.

They ended up outhitting the Pirates 8-6, but went 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position. The last batter Skenes faced was Kyle Tucker, who doubled into the left-center field gap, but a nice relay throw cut down Ian Happ trying to score from first. Skenes left after throwing 95 pitches.

“It was a grind,” Skenes said in the Pirates clubhouse. “I wasn't looking at my pitch count. I don't really do that generally. Just going out there and putting up as many zeros as possible until they take the ball.”

This is the fifth time in just over a week the Cubs have scored 2 runs or fewer in a game. Even in the bottom of the 10th, with the top of the order up, they did nothing to advance the baserunner off second.

“The offensive group has been so good all year,” Happ said. “It wasn't going to be completely perfect, you run into stretches of some tough pictures, some good staffs and bullpens. It just means that we're due for a couple of big numbers here. That's coming.”

Cubs starter Cade Horton actually pitched a little better than Skenes, allowing 3 hits and 1 walk over 5 2/3 innings, while throwing just 76 pitches. Before leaving the mound, Horton preserved the scoreless tie with a strikeout of Bryan Reynolds with one out and Oneil Cruz on third.

Skenes averaged 98.4 miles per hour with this fastball and threw seven different pitches. He was facing the Cubs for the sixth time in a little more than a year, which required him to mix things up.

“He's using some other pitches a little bit more than he has in the past,” Happ said. “Obviously, you have your at-bat history against him, so you're not sure exactly how he's going to attack you. He's done a lot of different stuff to me throughout different at-bats. I've faced him probably 15 times already, maybe more. To have that history and then try to play the cat and mouse, that's the fun part of it.”

The Pirates scored the first run of the game in the eighth inning when Henry Davis led off with a double off the wall against Brad Keller. Davis was bunted to third and cam home on a high-hopper to the mound.

When the Cubs tied it in the bottom of the inning, they should done more. Tucker walked and Seiya Suzuki singled before Pete Crow-Armstrong forced Suzuki at second. After a stolen base, Dansby Swanson's grounder to the left side scored Tucker, while PCA was tagged out in a rundown.

“It was a day offensively where we just didn't get the next hit,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “We had the right guys up a lot … but we just didn't get a hit with runners in scoring position, and you're going to have to pitch basically perfect to overcome that.”