On the 5th, the Pittsburgh Pirates hosted the Los Angeles Dodgers for the final game of their three-game series, featuring a showdown between Paul Skenes and Shohei Ohtani. Skenes completely controlled the matchup, striking out Ohtani twice and throwing 6 scoreless innings with just 2 hits allowed and 8 strikeouts. Thanks to Skenes’ strong performance, the Pirates secured a 5-3 victory, sweeping the Dodgers in the series.

Both teams started their Cy Young caliber pitchers for this game. The Pirates sent out Skenes, while the Dodgers countered with Blake Snell. However, Skenes was more dominant. In the first inning against Ohtani, he immediately struck him out with a 98.8 mph (approximately 159 km/h) fastball. Then, he efficiently retired Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, completing the inning perfectly with three up, three down.

In the top of the 3rd inning, Skenes walked Ohtani for the second matchup, but in their third encounter in the 6th inning, he struck him out again. The two faced each other three times in total during the game, with Ohtani unable to record a hit and striking out twice. This “monster versus unicorn” duel ultimately ended in Skenes’ favor.

On the other hand, Snell struggled somewhat in this game. In the 3rd inning, two wild pitches allowed the opposing team to reach scoring position, followed by a timely hit from Tommy Pham that broke the scoreless tie. In the bottom of the 5th, the Pirates launched a big attack, scoring 4 runs in the inning. Snell pitched 5 innings, giving up 9 hits and 5 runs, while striking out 6 but also issuing 3 walks, and he ultimately took the loss.

Although the Dodgers sparked a rally in the top of the 9th, highlighted by Mookie Betts’ 15th home run of the season to bring them within three runs, Colin Holderman of the Pirates struck out Ben Rortvedt to end the threat and secure the win, helping Pittsburgh complete the series sweep over Los Angeles.