What Alex Cora Said Before Red Sox’s Matchup Against Paul Skenes

For the first time in his career, Paul Skenes will take the mound against the Boston Red Sox.

The Pittsburgh Pirates ace is scheduled to start Friday’s game at Fenway Park. Sporting a 2.07 ERA in his second season, Skenes can bolster his National League Cy Young Award candidacy with another strong outing.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora addressed the upcoming matchup, per MassLive’s Christopher Smith, before the Red Sox finished a four-game sweep over the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday.

“He’s a great pitcher,” Cora said of Skenes. “Up there with the (Zack) Wheelers of the world. They’re playing well, too. They have a good pitching staff, obviously led by him. And it’s just a good one.”

Skenes has started his career with the second-lowest ERA (2.02 ERA) through 50 starts in the live-ball era. The 23-year-old has held the opposition scoreless 11 times this season, most recently throwing seven scoreless innings in Sunday’s 4-0 victory over the Colorado Rockies.

Along with Wheeler, Cora likened Skenes’ arrival to Jacob deGrom taking baseball by storm around a decade ago.

“He did that with the Mets,” Cora said of deGrom. “He was dominant. He’s still dominant.”

Skenes vs. Roman Anthony will make for must-see TV, and another young phenom could be on display. The Red Sox pushed back Dustin May’s scheduled start to Saturday, creating an opening for Payton Tolle to make his MLB debut on Friday night.

Either way, fans will want to witness Friday’s game, which starts at 7:10 p.m. ET.