Paul Skenes comes off his longest start and his first loss of his career. He went 8.1 innings and allowed two runs and that's about the norm for him in his last seven starts. You give up hardly any runs but don't get any runs scored by the Pirates. It's a wasted situation but I think this pitcher they're facing in his fourth career start could be someone to pick on. Jake Bloss comes off the loss to Oakland and he had allowed five runs. Astros have lost four of their last seven. Pirates get the win

Runs are usually at a premium in games involving Paul Skenes; indeed, in his last six starts for the Pirates, five of those saw scorelines with a total of five runs or fewer. Skenes (1.93 ERA; 0.87 WHIP) is also pitching deeper into games; he worked 8 1/3 innings last Tuesday vs. the Cards, allowing only four baserunners, though that proved enough to hand him his first loss. Which speaks to the other issue with the Bucs--their offense, often sluggish. The question tonight is if the Astros' Jake Bloss, in just his fourth MLB start, and the Houston bullpen can limit the Pittsburgh attack. The "totals" trendlines in games involving Skenes, however, suggests this one stays low-scoring at Minute Maid. Play Pirates-Astros "Under"