For a team with championship aspirations, it’s truly incredible how badly the Dodgers have played at times over the last two months. They were swept away by the punchline Pirates on Thursday night, getting nothing off of Paul Skenes in a 5-3 loss at PNC Park.

Skenes struck out eight in his six scoreless innings. The one true scoring chance was a drive by Dalton Rushing off the wall in right field in the third inning, narrowly missing a home run but settled for a double. He was stranded when, after a walk to Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts grounded out in the Dodgers’ only at-bat with a runner in scoring position against Skenes.

Blake Snell held serve for a while, allowing only a run through four innings. But three straight singles to open the fifth inning laid the groundwork for a four-run i

See Full Page