You’re so fine you blow my mind: Phillies 1, Pirates 0

A phenomenal debut by Mick Abel leads the Phillies to a win over the Pirates

Being asked to go against Paul Skenes in your major league debut is a tough ask for a pitcher. The Pirates might be a lousy team most of the time, but every fifth day, they have a good chance at victory behind one of the best young pitchers in baseball. On Sunday, Skenes was as good as advertised, limiting the Phillies to one run in eight innings. Fortunately, for the Phillies, rookie starter Mick Abel was just as good, pitching six shutout innings, lifting them to a 1-0 win.

Abel’s mettle was tested almost immediately. The Pirates singled twice in the first inning, forcing him to work out of his first ever major league jam. But he pitched out of it without damage, and perhaps bolstered by that success, struck out the side in the second.

The Pirates once again got two runners on board in the third, and once again, Abel kept them off the board. And then, over the next three innings, he only gave up one hit, and that was erased when catcher Rafael Marchan threw him out stealing. (Shout out to Marchan. The backup catcher has taken some heat for his play this season, but he handled the rookie expertly on Sunday.)

Abel didn’t have much margin for error because Skenes was on top of his game. The Phillies were hitless through four innings, and a Brandon Marsh walk provided the only baserunner.

They finally “broke through” in the fifth when Nick Castellanos reached on an infield single. Max Kepler followed with a more conventional hit, and the Phillies were able to get a run across thanks to Marsh’s RBI groundout.

Not wanting to overextend the rookie, Abel’s day ended after six innings, and the bullpen – which is likely going to receive even more scrutiny after Jose Alvarado’s suspension – was asked to handle the final three innings. Orion Kerkering pitched a scoreless seventh, but only because his fielders were able to handle two consecutive shaky throws on grounders back to the mound.

Insurance runs would have been nice, but that simply wasn’t happening. Skenes retired nine of the last ten Phillies batters to finish off the eight-inning complete game.

Fortunately, Matt Strahm and Jordan Romano were rock solid over the final two innings. Strahm struck out two in a clean eighth, and then the resurgent Romano blew the Pirates away in the ninth, racking up three strikeouts on just eleven pitches. The current version of Romano bears no resemblance to the guy most Phillies fans wanted fired into the sun a few weeks ago.

Abel’s effort will be rewarded with a trip back to the minors, since the injury-induced opening in the rotation is thought to be short-term. But if he can continue to pitch like he did on Sunday, it’s only a matter of time before he finds himself back with the big-league team.