PHOENIX (Interstat) — Paul Skenes pitched eight innings of two-hit shutout baseball, Brandon Lowe homered in the first inning and the Pittsburgh Pirates edged the Arizona Diamondbacks 1-0 on Wednesday night at Chase Field.

Skenes, the defending National League Cy Young Award winner, retired the first 14 batters he faced, striking out seven and walking none. The only hits he allowed were a soft dribbler down the third-base line by Lourdes Gurriel Jr. in the fifth inning and a line-drive single by Nolan Arenado that followed. Skenes then set down the final 10 hitters he faced, striking out the side in the eighth.

The 23-year-old right-hander threw 99 pitches, 70 for strikes, and lowered his ERA to 2.88. He improved to 5-2 on the season after a rough outing five days earlier in which he allowed four earned runs in five innings against St. Louis.

Lowe provided the only run of the game in the top of the first. With one out, he drove a 2-1 pitch from Arizona starter Michael Soroka over the center-field wall for his ninth home run of the season. It was the only extra-base hit of the night for Pittsburgh, which finished with seven hits.

The Pirates threatened again in the second when Spencer Horwitz hit a one-out triple to center field, but Soroka escaped the inning by striking out Konnor Griffin and then inducing a fielder’s choice double play that cut down Horwitz at home.

Soroka worked 6⅓ innings, allowing seven hits and one earned run while striking out six and walking two. He fell to 4-2 as the Diamondbacks lost for the fourth time in five games.

Arizona’s offense managed only two hits all night. After Gurriel and Arenado singled back-to-back with two outs in the fifth, Gabriel Moreno lined out to right field to end the threat. The Diamondbacks did not put a runner in scoring position after that inning.

Pittsburgh’s defense made several key plays behind Skenes. Center fielder Oneil Cruz made a diving catch on a line drive by Corbin Carroll in the fourth, and the Pirates turned a double play in the second to erase Horwitz’s triple.

Gregory Soto pitched a perfect ninth inning for his second save of the season. He struck out Jose Fernandez to open the inning, then retired Geraldo Perdomo on a fly ball and Ketel Marte on a groundout to secure the victory.

Bryan Reynolds recorded two of Pittsburgh’s seven hits, going 2-for-4 with a single in the first and another single in the third. Lowe finished 2-for-4 with the home run. Marcell Ozuna and Konnor Griffin each added a single for the Pirates.

For Arizona, Gurriel and Arenado produced the only hits. Ildemaro Vargas, Adrian Del Castillo, Gabriel Moreno and Alek Thomas combined to go 0-for-12 with five strikeouts. Geraldo Perdomo reached on a walk in the ninth but was stranded.

The game took 2 hours, 15 minutes before an announced crowd of 21,719.

The Pirates improved to 20-17 with the victory, while Arizona fell to 17-18.

The win came one day after the Diamondbacks routed the Pirates 9-0 on Tuesday night. Pittsburgh had dropped three of four coming into the series finale, while Arizona had lost six of its previous eight.

Pittsburgh will now travel to San Francisco for a three-game series beginning Friday, while Arizona will host the New York Mets for a weekend set at Chase Field.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Pittsburgh 4, Arizona 3. Interstat’s ELO system gave Arizona a 55.60 percent probability to win. Pittsburgh had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5, and the total score of one run went over the over-under line of eight.