Paul Skenes proved the power of his popularity in drawing a sellout crowd to PNC Park on Saturday, perhaps more for the promotional giveaway than to see the 2024 National League rookie of the year pitch.

Like the baseball card-inspired bobblehead that depicted only the upper half of the 6-foot-6 right-hander, the Pittsburgh Pirates left their fans wanting more.

Skenes allowed two runs over seven innings for his third quality start, but the Cleveland Guardians handed the Pirates their fourth shutout loss of the season, 3-0, on Saturday afternoon before 37,713 at PNC Park.

“Anytime you don’t put any runs up, it sucks. You get shut out,” Pirates third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes said. “He pitched well. He’s not going to be perfect and not give up any runs every time so it’s our job to score runs. Whenever he’s able to keep it, especially when he goes over five, six innings and he keeps it right there at two runs, got to find a way.”

The last-place Pirates (8-14) went 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position, stranding six runners and failing to score with the bases loaded in the sixth when Tommy Pham grounded into a double play. They will try to avoid a three-game sweep to Cleveland (11-9) on Easter Sunday.

“We’ve had some frustrating (innings),” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said, “but that one did frustrate me because we had some good at-bats.”

Pitching on four days’ rest for the first time in his major-league career, Skenes (2-2) allowed six hits and one walk while striking out four in throwing 68 of his 103 pitches for strikes and flirting with triple digits.

Skenes averaged 98.1 mph on 37 four-seam fastballs, topping out at 99.9. A fastball got six-time All-Star Jose Ramirez to lose grip of his bat, which went flying off the protective nets and into the Cleveland dugout in the sixth inning.

Skenes got out of three jams with inning-ending double plays, but the Guardians took a 1-0 lead in the third when Daniel Schneeman hit a leadoff double to the right-field corner, advanced to third on Brayan Rocchio’s groundout and scored on Steven Kwan’s RBI single.

The Pirates came up empty on their first two scoring chances. In the second, Adam Frazier doubled to right and reached third on Jared Triolo’s fly out to center but was stranded when Rocchio made a leaping grab to snag Jack Suwinski’s bloop to short. In the third, Oneil Cruz hit a one-out single to right and stole second base, only for Ben Lively (1-2) to strike out Bryan Reynolds and get Hayes to ground out.

The Pirates’ best scoring chance came against left-hander Tim Herrin in the sixth. Cruz led off by drawing a full-count walk, and Reynolds followed with a single to left to put runners on first and third. Hayes worked a full count and thought he drew a walk on a sinker outside but went down looking at a called third strike by home plate umpire Jeremie Rehak. Enmanuel Valdez drew a walk to load the bases, only for Pham to ground to short where Rocchio turned a double play to end the rally.

“Felt like it changed the whole inning,” Hayes said. “Called a ball a strike to ring me up. Feel like the game plays out differently if we have bases loaded with Valdy up, righty on lefty with nobody out. Nothing you can do. It’s part of the game. It sucks.”

If that was a deflating moment, Kyle Manzardo only darkened the mood by sending Skenes’ first pitch of the seventh 411 feet over the right-field seats to become the 51st player to hit a home run into the Allegheny River and give the Guardians a 2-0 lead.

Triolo hit a one-out double in the seventh, but Guardians lefty Tim Herrin struck out Alexander Canario — whom Shelton chose to pinch-hit for Jack Suwinski instead of Joey Bart, Isiah Kiner-Falefa or Andrew McCutchen — and then Henry Davis to keep the Pirates scoreless.

Lefty Caleb Ferguson replaced Skenes in the eighth, only to load the bases by sandwiching walks to Rocchio and Nolan Jones around a Kwan single. Ramirez hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Rocchio and give the Guardians a 3-0 lead.

Pirates two-time All-Star David Bednar, recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis on Saturday morning, received a mixed reaction from the crowd when he made his return in the ninth inning.

After Bednar got Carlos Santana to fly out, Naylor reached on an error by Frazier and Angel Martinez followed with a single to center. Bednar got Lane Thomas swinging at a curveball for a strikeout and Rocchio looking at a called third strike on a 96.9 mph fastball.

The Pirates’ last scoring chance ended when Valdez was called out at third trying to stretch a double to start the ninth. Valdez appeared to be safe but slid past the bag, trying to keep his right hand on the base while wincing because of pain in his left side.

Shelton thought third base umpire Chris Conroy signaled a timeout, only to call him out when Ramirez tagged his hand. The Pirates challenged, but the call was confirmed upon review.

“From my vantage point, the umpire started to give time and in the middle of starting to give time called him out,” Shelton said. “When it went to replay, I don’t know how the timeout system works there or what their vantage point is, but evidently they saw him off the bag, which they showed on the board and that was the case. That’s what I saw.”

Skenes said he wouldn’t lose sleep over his performance, though he lamented that it’s his job to put up zeroes while acknowledging the Pirates fell into a pattern of not producing offensively.

“We’re just not executing at a high enough level, and as consistently as we need to, to win these games,” Skenes said in a somber home clubhouse. “I don’t think it’s a clubhouse thing. Everybody likes each other. But positive feelings, friendships and all that don’t win championships. We’ve got to figure it out.”

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