PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) - Jared Jones dazzles in Major League debut with 10 strikeouts in a 9-3 win over the Marlins.
Jones had 22 swing and misses in his 5 and 2/3 innings pitched. He allowed three earned runs on just three hits. He had the Marlins fishing all game at his fastball and slider combination. Jones began the first inning with a 1-2-3 start including two strikeouts of Josh Bell and Bryan De La Cruz.
"To be able to calm his nerves in his first Major League start and go out against a good lineup, he was very impressive," said Manager Derek Shelton.
Jones was taken in the 2020 amateur draft with the 44th pick by the Pirates. He played their hand by dominating in spring training, pitching 16 and 1/3 innings and allowing no earned runs, making it impossible for the team to keep him off the big league roster.
"I think we knew organizationally this kid has weapons and we saw it on display today a little bit," said Shelton.
He was given run support early in the game, as the Pirates scored one in the third inning and two in the fourth. Edward Olivares singled home a run in the third, Connor Joe double in the fourth to score a run and Ke'Bryan Hayes singled in Joe.
Jake Burger and Jesús Sánchez ended the shutout for Jones in the 4th inning with two RBI hits cutting the Pirates lead to 3-2, but Pittsburgh would respond with two in the 5th and four in the 7th inning.
His 10 strikeouts are the most for any Pirate pitcher making their MLB debut since Tim Wakefield in 1992.
Pirates bats stay hot
It wasn't all just about Jared Jones in this game, the Pirates had 16 hits and scored 9 runs. They now have scored 22 runs in the first three games of the season.
"Today we had 7 RBI's with two outs and the other two runs we scored were Michael with the infield in situation and we got a good contact read by Oneil," said Shelton. "The two things I would like to highlight is, Hayes and Cruz beating out double play balls that would have led to the third out of the inning. The first one Key beat out, Weathers had to throw 14 more pitches, which is huge for a starter with a bullpen on the other side that is a little beaten up. And then Cruz beats one out and we continue to score runs."
Joe went 3-5 with two runs batted in and three runs scored. Reynolds and Hayes also chipped in with two hits each and three RBI's combined.
The bullpen was great for Pittsburgh again just like on opening day when they didn't allow any earned runs. Ryan Borucki, Hunter Stratton, Jose Hernandez all pitched shutouts. David Bednar made his first appearance of the 2024 season and had a clean 9th inning with one strikeout.
Paul Skenes impresses in AAA debut
Down on the farm, Paul Skenes made his AAA debut for Indianapolis. Skenes threw 3 scoreless perfect innings and struck out 5 batters. He threw 46 efficient pitches.
Up next
Pittsburgh looks to sweep the Marlins Sunday afternoon when Bailey Falter takes the mound opposing Trevor Rogers. First pitch is at 1:40 on the Fan.