Paul Skenes Carries No-Hit Bid Through Seven; Pirates Win 1-0

The Pirates took the game and their series with the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday, winning 1-0 thanks to another standout performance from All-Star rookie Paul Skenes.

The 6-foot-6 right-hander no-hit the Brewers for seven innings, striking out 11 batters to tie his career high. His season ERA now sits at 1.90, the best by far among Major League starters… although he’s 16.2 innings shy of qualifying for the leaderboard.

Pittsburgh (45-48) threatened in the first inning, with a leadoff walk from Andrew McCutchen setting up an Oneil Cruz infield single. Aaron Civale managed to wriggle out of the jam, though, striking out Rowdy Tellez on three pitches before a Nick Gonzales groundout.

The Brewers drove up Skenes’ pitch count early, as he needed 63 to get through the first three innings. He got stronger as the game went on, cruising through the middle frames

Paul Skenes mowed through the sixth and seventh innings on a combined 13 pitches, using his splitter to elicit weak contact.

The Pirates’ offense, meanwhile, gave him a lead to work with. Ke’Bryan Hayes led off the seventh with a single, replaced by Jack Suwinski on a fielders’ choice. Yasmani Grandal smoked a double to center to score him, then McCutchen drew a walk to chase Civale from the game. The rally ended there, though, as Bryan Hudson forced Bryan Reynolds into a double play.

Colin Holderman entered for the eighth inning with Skenes sitting at 99 pitches. The no hit bid ended soon thereafter, with consecutive singles from the first batters he faced. Holderman rebounded to strike out the side, preserving a 1-0 lead into the ninth.

Aroldis Chapman retired the side in the ninth to secure the save.