BOSTON — For anyone savoring potentially memorable firsts, Friday’s Red Sox game against the Pirates, a 4-2 win for Pittsburgh, had quite a few.
It was Pirate righty Paul Skenes’ first time pitching at Fenway Park, his first time facing Red Sox promising rookie Roman Anthony and obviously his first matchup against Payton Tolle , Boston’s 22-year-old lefty, who was making his major league debut.
The Pittsburgh ace talked about all three after the game.
It wasn’t that Skenes wasn’t impressed by Fenway Park or the Friday night pennant race atmosphere in Boston. He just blocks it out when he’s pitching.
“I don’t really look up during my starts. It’s cool. I’ve been here as a fan,” he said. “It’s a really cool environment. I mean, it’s Fenway.”
Skenes said he was more likely to reli