PITTSBURGH — Former Pirates shortstop Jack Wilson threw out the first pitch Friday to his son, Jacob, who plays the same position for the Athletics as they revisited a similar scene from 19 years ago.

In 2006, 4-year-old Jacob Wilson threw out the first pitch to Jack before a Pirates game.

Jack Wilson played 12 seasons in the major leagues, including 2001 to 2009 in Pittsburgh. His best season was in 2004 when he batted .308 with 59 RBIs and a league-leading 12 triples.

Jacob Wilson entered Friday’s game hitting .320 with 13 home runs and 59 RBIs. This season, he became the first fan-elected rookie shortstop for the All-Star Game.

Jack Wilson, wearing a Pirates jersey, clapped and pumped his right fist in the eighth inning when Jacob Wilson chased down a hard grounder between short and third base and then made a jump throw to toss out the batter. The Athletics won 4-3.

PITTSBURGH — Paul Skenes is not thinking about the National League Cy Young speech he’ll likely be asked to make the week before Thanksgiving. The Pittsburgh Pirates ace isn’t thinking about the elite company he has kept through his first two big league seasons, either.

Skenes, 23, doesn’t pitch to win awards, but games. And neither Skenes — though largely through no fault of his own — nor his team has done enough of that to avoid another last-place finish in the NL Central.

So, no matter how much Skenes believes he has grown professionally during his first full season in the majors — and he’s a near lock to become the first player in four decades to win the Rookie of the Year one year and the Cy Young the next — he’s more concerned about how the Pirates respond over the winter.

“This is a wasted year if we don’t learn what we need to do and we don’t know why we didn’t go out there and do what we wanted to do,” Skenes said Friday. “If those things happen, then it’s a wasted year, in my opinion. I don’t think that’s happening. I think — individually, as a team and as an organization — we know the adjustments we need to make. Now, we’ve just got to do them.”

A season that began with the club hoping to return to contention for the first time in a decade quickly disintegrated during a nightmarish 12-26 start that led to manager Derek Shelton’s firing. Though Don Kelly steadied things after replacing Shelton, and Skenes has been the most dominant pitcher in the game, Pittsburgh entered its final home series against the Athletics this weekend having dropped 11 of 12 to assure the franchise’s 29th losing season since 1992.

The worst offense in the majors — Pittsburgh is last or near last in every major offensive category, from runs to home runs to OPS — has also put Skenes on the cusp of making some unwanted history. Despite an MLB-leading 2.03 ERA to go with 209 strikeouts and a .199 batting average against, Skenes holds a 10-10 record heading into what will likely be his final start of the season early next week in Cincinnati.

No starting pitcher has captured the Cy Young with a record of .500 or worse. Skenes is a heavy favorite to hear his name called when the award is announced Nov. 20. By then, Skenes will already have begun his preparations for 2026. He’s hoping and expecting those around him to do the same.

“There’s room to get better in this locker room,” he said. “We just need to do it. I’m sure we’ll get some pieces and do all that, but my mind right now is ‘What can we do within the locker room to get better, now and for next year?’ There’s urgency to it, and we need to understand that and act on it.”

To Skenes, whose combination of talent, work ethic and charisma has already thrust him into a leadership role despite having been in the majors for 16 months, that means being willing to challenge yourself in new ways.

“It’s going to take a lot of guys taking a look in the mirror, figuring out what it is that they need to get better at, and making sacrifices to do that,” he said.

Kelly, who seems likely to stay as manager for his hometown team in 2026, credited Skenes for being unafraid to have “tough conversations” despite his relative inexperience. Being willing to constantly walk the walk helps.

“[It’s] just the way that he leads himself first, and then carries himself that way, works like that, dominates on the field, it gives him that voice to be able to have those conversations with other people,” Kelly said.

Pittsburgh figures to have one of the better rotations in baseball next year behind Skenes, Mitch Keller and 23-year-old Bubba Chandler. There is reason for optimism, but Skenes pointed out that the team thought the same thing at the end of last season, and yet the Pirates are playing out the string in late September again.

Pittsburgh’s quickest path to contention might be parting with some of its young pitching talent if it wants to upgrade an offense that has been woeful regardless of who is starting, even Skenes, who has an ERA of 1.74 in his 11 no-decisions.

Though Skenes said “the book is out on him” now, he has been a step — and in some cases two or three — ahead of most opponents. He believes he’s a more complete pitcher than a year ago, and he credited the Pirates for helping him successfully navigate 31 starts and 181⅔ innings and counting.

Amid the losing, Skenes has tried to remain upbeat. He has also been firm in his commitment to the team and the community. He spent a portion of a rare Thursday off day by delivering meals to firefighters and first responders at a station in the suburbs, joking that it was kind of a bummer he didn’t get to blare the horn on one of the trucks.

Though he remains under team control for the rest of the decade, general manager Ben Cherington has faced questions on whether Skenes — who will likely command record-setting numbers once he becomes eligible for salary arbitration should he stay on his current path — could be traded.

The club remains firm in its commitment to him, though there haven’t been talks about an extension, mostly because it’s not something Skenes wants to discuss during the season. That might come up over the winter, though Skenes will be more focused on shoring up what few holes he might have in his game, even if he doesn’t know what they might be.

“I’ll figure it out,” he said. “I’ll figure out exactly what it is. I know I can get better. Just got to figure out what it is.”

HOUSTON — Seattle right-hander Bryan Woo exited the Mariners’ 4-0 win over the Houston Astros because of pectoral tightness after throwing a couple of warmup pitches in the sixth inning Friday night.

Shortly after Woo started warming up on the mound for the sixth, a team trainer and coaches came out. After a brief discussion, the All-Star exited with the trainer, and Eduard Bazardo replaced him.

“He had a little pec tightness,” manager Dan Wilson said after the Mariners’ victory, which vaulted them into first place in the American League West. “He kind of gave us a heads-up and that was why Bazardo was getting loose. We will know more tomorrow. Likely an MRI, and we will get to know a little bit more tomorrow, but that’s all we know at this point.”

Woo said he “felt a little tightness” but came out to try to throw in the sixth.

“It didn’t feel like it was best for the team,” he said. “I felt like Baz was ready to go. We’ll get some stuff done [Saturday], and I’ll know more. I really don’t know much.”

Woo said he had “felt great all game,” and that the tightness happened in the fifth.

“I just felt it at the end,” he said. “I thought it was smart to not try to push it.”

Wilson said when Woo returned to the dugout after the fifth, he told the coaching staff about the issue.

“So, that’s why we were semi-prepared. He was going to give it a shot and still felt tight, so we went to Bazardo at that point,” Wilson said.

Woo cruised through five innings, yielding one hit and one walk while striking out seven in the opener of a pivotal series between the rivals, who began the night tied atop the division.

“It’s a big series, obviously, but I tried to treat it like any other game,” Woo said. “Obviously, take care of business and come out with some urgency, but don’t try to do anything more. Just do your job.”

Woo got the win, improving to 15-7. He threw 67 pitches and lowered his ERA to 2.94. Carlos Correa got the only hit off Woo, a double with one out in the fourth.

Woo has 198 strikeouts this season.

“I think you’re obviously concerned in some ways, but in other ways, Bryan’s a tough cookie,” Wilson said. “It was smart that he let us know. There was no reason to push it. We will just find out more [Saturday].”