Paul Skenes celebrates Mother’s Day after Pirates' 4-3 win vs. Braves

Baseball World celebrated Mother's Day on Sunday with several MLB stars sharing tributes to their mothers. Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes was one of those stars celebrating the special day.

Paul was born to Craig and Karen Skenes in 2002. The duo had a big influence on the Pirates ace's aspirations of becoming a ballplayer since childhood. The reigning National League Rookie of the Year shared an Instagram post to celebrate his mother.

"Happy Mother's Day!" Skenes captioned the picture of him with his mother in Pittsburgh gear.

Paul Skenes' post came after the Pirates clinched a narrow 4-3 win over the Atlanta Braves on Sunday. The win clinched the three-game series for the Pirates, their first since the series win against the Los Angeles Angels last month.

The Pirates led after a three-run burst in the fifth inning. The Braves tied the game with a three-run surgery of their own in the eighth but the hosts clinched the win after Joe Bart's walk-off hit in the ninth.

Paul Skenes' early career was moulded by his mother

Paul Skenes acknowledged the influence of his parents in an interview with Channel 11′s Shelby Cassesse in February. The All-Star ace said that several family members loved baseball and it pushed him towards the sport.

“They’ve always been fans on both my mom and my dad’s side. So that was kind of the first sport that they introduced to me first. I just fell in love with it and been doing it ever since,” he said.

“We’d play whiffle ball at my grandparents’ house. My dad would throw to me every day, play catch with me every day, hit me ground balls, fly balls.”

Paul's mother, Karen, has three brothers, all with military backgrounds. While two of Paul's uncles served in the Navy, a third in the Coast Guard. Their service influenced Paul Skenes, who also attended military school before realizing his baseball dream.

“I feel like baseball was always just a dream that was in the back of his mind,” Karen Skenes said. “It’s very hard at a professional level. It’s very hard to get to that point."

Paul Skenes had a stellar rookie year with the Pirates after being drafted by the team in 2023. He has emerged as one of the most watchable players in the league, which isn't an easy feat for a pitcher.

About the author

Chaitanya Prakash is an editor who covers US Sports at Sportskeeda. His first brush with sportswriting was in 2012 when the greatest football manager of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson, bid farewell to the beautiful game.

Although having started out professionally as a cricket writer in 2022, Chaitanya's curiosity and indiscriminate interest in all sports in general eventually introduced him to America's favorite pastime.

While Chaitanya's favorite player from the current crop is the dynamic Venezuelan Ronald Acuna Jr., his all-time favorite, however, is Pedro Martinez, for his self-belief and consistency. He also rates Jose Bautista's iconic bat flip in 2015 as his favorite moment in baseball history.

Chaitanya specializes in reporting on technical aspects of the game or analyzing patterns behind specific plays. He also likes pondering over players' self-assessments following the conclusion of a game as it helps him get an idea of how they think about the sport in general.

When not cheering for his favorites across sports, Chaitanya likes being transported to the past through a good war documentary or a historical documentary in general.

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash