Paul Skenes performed a master class in pitching for the Pittsburgh Pirates, striking out nine Philadelphia Phillies while giving up three hits and one walk over eight innings in his first career complete game.

But Skenes allowed one thing that his counterpart didn’t: a run.

Mick Abel became only the fifth pitcher — and third in the modern era — to record nine strikeouts without a walk in six scoreless innings in his major-league debut, outdueling Skenes as the Phillies beat the Pirates, 1-0, on Sunday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park to sweep the three-game series.

That the Pirates are wasting quality starts from Skenes goes unspoken, Pirates manager Don Kelly said.

“He’s just a competitor,” Kelly said on the SportsNet Pittsburgh postgame show. “He goes out there and was really, really good today. He’s pitching for team wins, not as concerned with personal stuff, which speaks to who he is. He went out there today and pitched really well.”

It was the eighth shutout loss of the season for the Pirates (15-32) — the most in the majors — and the fifth time they have been swept. After losing five of their six games on the road trip against the New York Mets and Phillies, the Pirates return to PNC Park for a seven-game homestand against the Cincinnati Reds and Milwaukee Brewers.

The Pirates also extended their streak of failing to score five runs to 23 games, dating to a 9-3 win at the Los Angeles Angels on April 22. They are 0-4 in Skenes’ starts this month, scoring seven total runs. Kelly said he felt for Skenes, as the 2024 NL Rookie of the Year didn’t receive any run support from the punchless Pirates for the second time this season.

“No doubt,” Kelly said. “He pitched unbelievably well and deserved a win in that one.”

It didn’t help that the Phillies got an historic debut from Abel, a 23-year-old right-hander who was recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley for a spot start with Aaron Nola on the injured list. The 6-foot-5 right-hander, a 2020 first-round pick (No. 15 overall), was added to the 40-man roster in the offseason and is the Phillies’ No. 7 prospect per MLB Pipeline. He joined Shota Imanaga (2024) and former Pirate Nick Kingham (2018) as the only pitchers in the live ball era to have nine strikeouts without a walk in six scoreless innings in his debut.

Abel (1-0) struck out six of the first 10 batters he faced, relying primarily on a four-seam fastball that averaged 97.3 mph and touched 99 and a curveball that toyed with Pirates hitters. Abel threw strikes on 63 of 84 pitches and drew swings on 48, with 18 whiffs and 14 called strikes.

“Man, electric stuff, too,” Kelly said. “Just the way he got after it and mixed everything up, too. His fastball velo was elite. Throwing that curveball that really had a lot of depth to it gave our guys some trouble.”

By comparison, Skenes threw 71 of 102 pitches for strikes, drew swings on 49, with 20 whiffs and 13 called strikes. It was the type of efficiency and command Skenes has been seeking, especially on the heels of allowing 11 walks over his past three starts.

“Out in the bullpen, it wasn’t anything impressive. When I got out there, I was just getting ahead of guys,” Skenes said. “That’s one of those things that you can’t start coasting a little bit with it. You have to keep the pressure on in the count. I think I did a better job today than I have in probably most of my starts this year.”

Skenes topped 99 mph 11 times with his four-seamer, including three consecutive against two-time NL MVP Bryce Harper in a strikeout to end the first inning. Skenes struck out six of the first 11 batters he faced.

“Unbelievable,” Kelly said. “Just the way he went about it, the stuff that he had. It looked like he had a little more on the fastball today. The offspeed was working. He got early soft contact. There really wasn’t even hard contact today. He did a great job out there.”

Abel (1-0) allowed five hits, and the Pirates put runners on the corners in the third after singles by Henry Davis and Bryan Reynolds, only for Abel to get Spencer Horwitz to ground out to second to escape the jam.

Skenes (3-5) didn’t allow a hit until the fifth, when Nick Castellanos and Max Kepler hit back-to-back singles to put runners on first and third with no outs. Oneil Cruz caught a fly ball to shallow center and held the runner, but shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa couldn’t turn a double play on Brandon Marsh’s grounder up the middle and Castellanos scored for a 1-0 lead.

Orion Kerkering replaced Abel in the seventh and walked leadoff hitter Ke’Bryan Hayes, then gave up a single to Alexander Canario. But the Pirates failed to generate a run. Adam Frazier’s bunt bounced back to the mound, and Kerkering threw to third for the forceout, and Kiner-Falefa followed by hitting into a 1-4-3 double play to end the frame.

Matt Strahm and Jordan Romano combined to strike out the final five batters to clinch the victory on the same day that closer Jose Alvarado drew an 80-game suspension for PED use. The Pirates struck out 14 times (five looking), with Cruz accounting for four. He is 0 for 9 since returning to the lineup Friday night after missing four games with low back discomfort and had eight strikeouts in the Phillies series.

The Pirates’ inability to score runs for Skenes has become a big problem.

“The way he’s pitching, the guys want to get in there and get it done,” Kelly said. “Obviously, didn’t today.”

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