If you had seen that the San Francisco Giants were starting Logan Webb and the Pittsburgh Pirates were countering with Paul Skenes at the start of the year, you would have popped some popcorn to watch a duel between aces.
Six months into the 2026 season, however, both pitchers are having uncharacteristic seasons, and that was on full display Tuesday night.
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Skenes got out of the top of the first inning unscathed, but had a brutal second inning. He started with a leadoff walk, then allowed an infield single. After a sacrifice bunt, Skenes gave up back-to-back RBI singles and then a three-run home run to Rafael Devers.
The Pittsburgh ace worked a clean third and fourth inning, but was pulled with two outs in the fifth with his pitch count hitting 95.
Skenes entered the game with a 9-11 record and a 3.79 ERA. After allowing five earned runs, his ERA increased to 3.97. The former NL Rookie of the Year and NL Cy Young winner hasn’t finished a season with an ERA over 2.0, but is almost guaranteed to do so barring some lights-out performances before the end of the regular season.
While Skenes’ day was subpar, Webb’s was outright bad.
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The Giants’ ace allowed two earned runs in the bottom of the first inning thanks to RBI singles from Nick Gonzales and Oneil Cruz. Webb then pitched a clean second, but imploded in the third.
He allowed four consecutive singles and then issued back-to-back walks with the bases loaded. After one more RBI single, he was pulled from the game with the bases loaded and no outs.
Braxton Roxby came out of the pen, and two more runs that Webb was responsible for crossed the plate.
The right-hander’s final stat line for the game was 2 innings pitched and nine earned runs allowed from nine hits and two walks. He threw only 65 pitches before getting removed from the game. It was the most earned runs he had ever allowed in a start, and it was the second-shortest outing of his career.
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Webb entered the game with a 3.72 ERA, but after the dismal outing, it increased to 4.21. If his ERA stays above 4.0, it will be the first time he has had an ERA above 3.65 since 2020.
Pittsburgh came into the day with a 67-71 record, sitting in fourth place in the NL Central. San Francisco had a 57-81 record in fourth place in the NL West.
The Pirates are only six games back of the final NL Wild Card spot, while the Giants need a hefty winning streak to make the postseason since they are currently 16 games back of the third spot.
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