Paul Skenes had his "best outing in a while," and Oneil Cruz hit the first homer allowed by Mason Miller in over a year with two outs in the ninth Tuesday night, sending the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 1-0 victory over the San Diego Padres. Skenes pitched six innings of three-hit ball in a solid rebound by the Pirates' reigning NL Cy Young Award winner. Skenes had gone 0-3 with a 6.46 ERA in his past five starts, leading Pittsburgh to give extra rest to its ace last week. He was back in form in his native Southern California, throttling the Padres and issuing no walks while his fastball again touched 98 mph, assuaging concerns about his downtick in velocity earlier this month.

Pirates manager Don Kelly called it "the best outing in a while" for Skenes, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. His start Tuesday snapped a streak of 17 straight starts allowing a run, the longest of his career. Skenes threw 31 pitches at 97 mph or harder, his most in seven starts since the All-Star break.

Cruz improbably lined a low 98 mph pitch from Miller into Petco Park's short porch in right field for his 17th homer. Miller, the Padres' All-Star closer and Pittsburgh native, hadn't let anybody go deep on him in 73 consecutive appearances since Arizona's Lourdes Gurriel Jr. did it Aug. 5, 2025.