Paul Skenes is the real deal.

Skenes, the 2023 No. 1 overall pick, showed up to Comerica Park with the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday — celebrating his 22nd birthday — for the fourth start of his MLB career, facing the Detroit Tigers.

The famed flamethrower burned the Tigers.

And the Tigers lost to the Pirates, 10-2, in Game 2 of Wednesday's doubleheader.

"We had a hard time with the overall package," manager A.J. Hinch said. "He's a talented kid."

The Tigers (27-28) couldn't build upon their four-game winning streak, primarily as a result of tallying just four hits, but they still finished with a 4-2 record during their six-game homestand against the Toronto Blue Jays and Pirates.

GAME 1: Tarik Skubal, Matt Vierling team up in Tigers' 8-0 win over Pittsburgh Pirates

Skenes allowed two runs on three hits and one walk with nine strikeouts in six innings, throwing 96 pitches. The former LSU standout owns a 2.45 ERA with five walks and 30 strikeouts across 22 innings in four starts.

His fastball averaged 99.2 mph and maxed out at 100.5 mph.

The Tigers scored their first of two runs off Skenes in the second inning. Mark Canha walked on eight pitches, Colt Keith hit an outside changeup for a ground-ball single, and Akil Baddoo tagged a down-and-away fastball for a sacrifice fly to center field.

The sac fly from Baddoo put the Tigers ahead, 1-0.

"I thought our at-bats were pretty good early," Hinch said. "We made him work a ton. It looked like we had a couple of opportunities to chase him early. And then he had the equalizer. His split was really good. It's really effective and really impactful to both sided hitters."

[ MUST LISTEN: Make "Days of Roar" your go-to Detroit Tigers podcast, available anywhere you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify) ]

The Tigers didn't score again until the sixth inning.

That's when Matt Vierling crushed his fourth pull-side home run in the past three games. (He also hit a homer in Game 1 of Wednesday's doubleheader, which ended in an 8-0 win.) Facing Skenes, Vierling jumped a first-pitch middle-down slider for a solo home run to left-center field, trimming the Tigers' deficit to 5-2.

Vierling, who finished 1-for-4 with two strikeouts, is hitting .289 with seven home runs and an .823 OPS in 49 games this season. He hit .261 with 10 homers in 134 games last season.

"I'm seeing a lot of awesomeness," Hinch said. "Is that a word? He's taken a lot of work that he's been doing behind the scenes into the game. The pull-side in the air, we've talked about it enough, now we're watching it. He's been incredible."

Otherwise, Skenes was dominant throughout his six-inning performance. His splitter, which he throws at 94 mph, generated 11 of his 19 whiffs, while his 99 mph fastball picked up an additional seven whiffs.

"He's got legit stuff," Vierling said. "He's got a lot of movement on all his pitches."

Skenes, the most recent No. 1 overall pick, recorded four strikeouts in his first six outs.

He struck out 2020 No. 1 overall pick Spencer Torkelson twice, with a down-and-in 96 mph splitter in the second inning and an up-and-away 98.4 mph fastball in the fifth inning. Torkelson also struck out swinging in the seventh inning on a down-and-away splitter from left-handed reliever Aroldis Chapman.

MISSING TIME: Kerry Carpenter placed on injured list with lumbar spine inflammation

Torkelson finished 0-for-4 with three strikeouts in Game 2, after going 0-for-4 with one strikeout in Game 1.

"He had a hard day," Hinch said. "That's easy to say because he had a really tough day in both games. We're continuing to search for that and staying positive with him and trying to get him in a better place."

Keider Montero makes MLB debut

Right-hander Keider Montero joined the Tigers as the 27th player for Wednesday's doubleheader, making his MLB debut. The 23-year-old had a 4.40 ERA with 17 walks and 36 strikeouts across 30⅔ innings in nine starts with Triple-A Toledo.

He looked composed in his first MLB start.

"It was a lot of fun to see his joy," Hinch said. "The only thing that happened is a couple of misfires. Execution got a little bit inconsistent, and he paid for it. I'm really proud of his effort."

Montero allowed four runs on five hits and one walk with five strikeouts in 4⅓ innings, throwing 87 pitches. He relied on a heavy mix of fastballs and sliders against the Pirates, while also using some changeups and curveballs.

For the first strikeout of his career, Montero struck out Nick Gonzales on a full-count slider at the top of the strike zone with one out in the second inning.

Before that, Montero retired the first three batters in the first inning: Andrew McCutchen (groundout), Bryan Reynolds (lineout) and Connor Joe (pop out).

The Pirates flipped the scoreboard in the third inning, when McCutchen drilled an elevated fastball for a three-run home run to left-center field. The Pirates extended their lead to 4-1 with Gonzales' solo home run off Montero's elevated curveball to open the fourth inning.

"I felt good with all my stuff, just a couple of hiccups," Montero said. "I left the ball right in the middle of the plate, and they took advantage of that, but at the end of the day, I feel good with what I did and I feel good with my performance."

Montero walked a batter — McCutchen — for the first time with one out in the fifth inning, ending his start. He threw a season-high 87 pitches, generating 10 whiffs on 41 swings with three fastballs, five sliders, one changeup and one curveball.

Bullpen blows again

The Tigers surrendered an additional five runs after Montero's departure.

Left-handed reliever Joey Wentz replaced Montero with one out in the fifth inning and exited with one out in the seventh inning. He allowed three runs on two hits and two walks with three strikeouts, throwing 37 pitches.

Right-handed reliever Will Vest cleaned up Wentz's mess, then gave way to left-handed reliever Andrew Chafin in the eighth inning. Chafin gave up one run on three hits, but he escaped further trouble by striking out three batters in his 21-pitch appearance.

The Pirates took an 10-2 lead with two runs off right-handed reliever Beau Brieske in the ninth inning.

McCutchen finished 3-for-4 with a single, double, home run, walk and four RBIs.

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

Listen to our weekly Tigers show "Days of Roar" every Monday afternoon on demand at freep.com, Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at freep.com/podcasts.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers burned by Pittsburgh Pirates' Paul Skenes in 10-2 loss