Paul Skenes might still be relatively new in the major leagues. The Pittsburgh Pirates star isn't new to baseball. The 22-year-old has been pitching for a while. He knows that some days — hopefully most of them — he's going to have dominant stuff that bends pitches to his will and leaves bats flailing in pursuit.

The St. Louis Cardinals got the bats going against the Pittsburgh Pirates Tuesday. St. Louis pummeled Pirates ace Paul Skenes, en route to a 5-3 victory at PNC Park. It turned out to be the worst performance from Skenes in his Major League Baseball career.

To quote Duke from the cinematic classic “Rocky IV,” just after the titular hero cut Ivan Drago, “You see? You see? He’s not a machine, he’s a man.” It turns out Paul Skenes is no machine, either. The Pirates’ ace allowed five earned runs for the first time,