Paul Skenes delivered another excellent start and Andrew McCutchen brought home the game-winning run for the Pittsburgh Pirates in their 2-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies to complete the weekend sweep at PNC Park.

The lone scorer came on Kyle Schwarber’s solo homer in the first inning Saturday. In seven games without Bryce Harper, the Phillies are now 1-6.

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The Phillies are not going well, having lost eight of nine games. They’ll try to end that skid and avoid a sweep in Pittsburgh on Sunday behind Cristopher Sanchez. The left hander won in his last outing, giving up just one run in six innings.

Pittsburgh Pirates left-hander Andrew Heaney left his start in the seventh inning against the Philadelphia Phillies with left calf cramping

Despite more excellent starting pitching, the Phillies found a way to lose all three games, as the Pirates swept the series by winning each game by one run, with each go-ahead run coming in the seventh inning or later. Two of three Pirates wins in the series came in Pittsburgh's last at-bat, including a walk-off win Friday night.

There are many platitudes that can be deployed in the event of a baseball team’s extended swoon. You have heard most, if not all, of them before; they can offer neither solace nor novelty. Therefore, let us move on to detailing the events of today’s showdown between Paul Skenes and Cristopher Sánchez.