Skies completed the last game of the season and reached the 200K record for two consecutive seasons.

Skies played his final game of the season today. (AP)

[Sports Center/Comprehensive Report] Pittsburgh Pirates Cy Young ace Paul Skenes faced the St. Louis Cardinals today to complete the final game of the season. In the post-game interview, he also mentioned the bumpy process of this year's season.

Although he was hit by Alec Burleson in the first inning, Skeeth regained his form and kept a clean sheet. Finally, he struck out Leo Bernal in the first half of the seventh inning and retired, officially completing his pitching work for this year's season.

Please read on...

Skeith completed 6.1 innings with 96 pitches, allowing 3 hits and 1 run, 8 strikeouts and 2 walks. The average four-seamer speed was 96.6 miles (approximately 155.5 kilometers), and the fastest was 98.1 miles (approximately 157.9 kilometers). He ended with his 13th high-quality start this season.

This season, Skeeth completed 32 games, pitched 174.1 innings and struck out 200 times. He had a record of 10 wins and 11 losses, an ERA of 3.82, and an on-base percentage of 1.12. His 200K performance was the first Pirates starting pitcher to achieve at least 200 strikeouts in two consecutive seasons after Bob Veale from 1964 to 1966.

Skeeth, who dominated the major leagues in the first two seasons of his career, started early this year due to participation in the World Baseball Classic, which also affected his performance during the season. After the game, he said in an interview that this period was very hard, "But I think this year is still rewarding. Although I am not as dominant as the previous two years, I will not spend the entire off-season thinking about how badly I failed this year, because I think this is not true."

Skies continued to add: "I am fully aware of the standards set by my performance in the previous two years, but I think there are still merits this year, and I understand where improvements need to be made. Some problems may be easier to solve during the off-season, and some may take time, but I am very happy that I still completed 32 starts."

Skies also said in the end: "I think the best state of my baseball career has not yet come, and I also believe that the best state of our team has yet to come. The long offseason will give me the opportunity to review everything. I am very easy to feel emotional during the season, and I will also let emotions affect my performance. Therefore, it is good for me to be able to review this season more comprehensively, rather than looking back every day and in the short term."

In the end, the Pirates won 2:1, and their current record reached 81 wins and 78 losses. Although they broke through the 50% winning rate again since 2018, they still missed the playoffs. The last time they made it was in 2015, and finally lost to the Cubs 0:4 in the National League Wild Card Game, which was a life-and-death battle at the time.